


day seven

by sxftmelody



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Cabin AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-11-26 14:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18181619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxftmelody/pseuds/sxftmelody
Summary: “The way I see it, we have three options,” Jinsol says.“What are the options?”“One: we do nothing and move on after this week, two: we get together now and end it after this week, or three: we get together now and continue dating even after this week ends.”orJungeun goes on a trip with her best friend to a cabin in the woods and ends up meeting Jinsol, the girl who attempts to teach her how to swim and fails (or: the girl who attempts to steal her heart and succeeds).





	day seven

**Author's Note:**

> in this universe, jungeun and jiwoo are 18. haseul, sooyoung, and jinsol are 19. vivi’s 20.
> 
> (i started writing this before the news of kim lip being a swimmer came out, so that’s why she’s the one who can’t swim in this fic LOL)

 

**_“but what’s the point of the one if you find them at the wrong time?”_ **

**_(now playing: aggression by ivan b)_ **

 

—

 

**day one.**

 

Jungeun huffs as she heaves a suitcase out from the back of Jiwoo’s trunk, setting it onto the ground as her best friend comes around to join her in retrieving their bags.

 

“Aren’t you excited, Jungie?!” Jiwoo asks excitedly, “A whole cabin and pond just to ourselves!”

 

“Not **just** to ourselves,” Jungeun grumbles, watching as Jiwoo grabs two backpacks. She takes the red one and slips on the straps around her shoulders, “don’t forget the **four** other girls who are also going to be in the same cabin as us.”

 

“Oh, please!” Jiwoo shakes her head, shutting the trunk after getting another suitcase and a blue cooler. She walks up the path through the trees, “They’re all nice girls! You would know if you bothered to open up the group chat we’re in.”

 

Jungeun sneers, “Whatever.”

 

Jiwoo bumps her shoulder with Jungeun, “Don’t be so grumpy! This is our vacation, Jungie. Be happy! We’re finally done with high school! We’re _free_!”

 

“Up until we have to go to _college_ ,” Jungeun says, dragging the suitcase behind her and having to lift it over branches and twigs on the ground, “I don’t understand why you wanted to rent a cabin. We could’ve gone and stayed in a hotel near Six Flags, or something. Why a _cabin_?”

 

“Because I want to get **away** from everything,” Jiwoo explains, “and I know you’ve been wanting to, too.”

 

“What?” Jungeun pauses as they near the cabin that’s just up a few wooden stairs, “How do you know what I want?”

 

Jiwoo rolls her eyes and starts up the stairs, “Don’t play dumb with me, Jungeun! I’ve known you for my entire life! You’ve spent the last year of high school wanting nothing more than to escape. And now we have! _Temporarily_ . For a **_week_ **!”

 

“How _fun_ ,” Jungeun drawls, waiting in front of the door as Jiwoo digs around her pocket for the paper she’d written the passcode on.

 

“Ah! Here it is!” Jiwoo pulls the paper out in all of its crumpled-up glory and presses the code into the screen next to the door, “You know, for a cabin, it’s not really a **cabin**.”

 

Jungeun nods, understanding exactly what Jiwoo means.

 

Although the building had been listed as a cabin online, it’s more of a modernized version of a wooden house. Walking into the living room from the front door, it’s clear that they’re going to get their money’s worth. Everything is sleek. There’s granite and clean white paint mixed in with light wooden planks. The walls are more windows than they are actual walls and the ceiling’s high enough to make everything feel **that** much more spacious.

 

“We’re the first ones here, too, so we can get first pick on our room!” Jiwoo states giddily, setting down her suitcase and rushing towards the stairs, “Come on!”

 

“What? Hold on, Jiwoo,” Jungeun closes the door behind her and follows her best friend.

 

“This one! We have to have this one! There are bunk beds!” Jiwoo’s muffled voice comes from down the hall.

 

Jungeun peeks her head through all the rooms before getting to the one Jiwoo’s in.

 

“Jiwoo?” Jungeun calls out.

 

Her head pops out from above the top bunk, “I call the top bunk!”

 

“Go ahead,” Jungeun laughs, unable to stop herself from smiling at how happy Jiwoo’s become, “I knew you were excited about coming here because you were so jittery during the car ride, but I didn’t know you were **this** excited.”

 

“It’s beautiful here, Jungeun!” Jiwoo hops down from the bed and runs in front of Jungeun, eyes wide with excitement, “I’m going to go look at the pond! Come with!”

 

“Wait we should bring our stuff in—”

 

Jiwoo’s already run out of the room.

 

“—the room…” Jungeun trails off. She shakes her head amusedly and chuckles to herself.

 

Boy, does she love Jiwoo.

 

She walks back down the stairs to get their suitcases, deciding to make two trips for the two suitcases instead of trying to struggle with making one trip. As she’s going back down the stairs after getting her first suitcase, she’s surprised to see two girls at the front door.

 

There’s a beep, and then the front door’s opened.

 

“Hey,” Jungeun greets awkwardly.

 

_God, where is Jiwoo?_

 

“Ah, you’re not Jiwoo,” one of them states, the shorter one.

 

“No,” Jungeun shakes her head as she takes the remaining suitcase, “Jiwoo’s out admiring the water. I’m her friend, Jungeun.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Jungeun,” the brunette says with a smile, “I’m Haseul. This is my girlfriend Sooyoung.”

 

They exchange quick greetings, and then Jungeun clears her throat.

 

“Jiwoo and I just picked our room, so you two are free to choose from the remaining two,” she smiles.

 

“Ah, thanks,” Haseul grins. She turns to Sooyoung, “I’ll pick the room and you can go get the other stuff from the car?”

 

Sooyoung quirks an eyebrow but turns on her heel nonetheless and walks back down the path.

 

Haseul and Jungeun walk up the stairs together, both lugging their suitcases behind them.

 

“So, you and Jiwoo just graduated high school, huh?” Haseul sparks up conversation.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun hums, “we graduated literally a couple days ago. Jiwoo wanted this vacation _as soon as possible_.”

 

Haseul laughs and nods her head, “I get that. Sooyoung and I did that when we graduated, too.”

 

Jungeun tilts her head, “Have you and Sooyoung been together for long?”

 

“We’ve only become girlfriends recently, but we’ve been friends since high school! We’re in college now. Just finished our first semester actually, we’re not that much older than you two.”

 

“Ah,” Jungeun says. She drops off her suitcase in the room and then joins Haseul in the hallway again.

 

“I think I’m going to choose this room,” Haseul points to the one with the double bed, “and I should probably go help Sooyoung get the rest of the stuff.”

 

“How much did you even bring?” Jungeun asks, amused.

 

“I like to be **prepared** , alright?” Haseul laughs, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

 

“Alright,” Jungeun nods, watching as Haseul hurries down the hall. She figures she’d go find Jiwoo and tell her that two of their roommates for the next week have arrived.

 

She walks out the back patio door and spots Jiwoo sitting on the swinging chair near the dock.

 

_She looks so peaceful..._

 

“Hey,” Jungeun calls out gently, “Sooyoung and Haseul are here.”

 

“Oh!” Jiwoo jumps up.

 

 _Aaaand the peacefulness is_ **_gone_ ** _._

 

“I have to go say ‘hi’ to them!” Jiwoo smiles brightly, As she passes by Jungeun, she squeezes her shoulder, “It’s so great here, Jungeun! You’re going to love it.”

 

Jungeun smiles as she watches Jiwoo hurry into the house. She hears the girl’s excited squeals and laughs behind her as she starts walking towards the dock.

 

She stands there for a few minutes, just watching the water and thinking about the past year, but she flinches when she hears leaves rustling and twigs snapping to her left.

 

Jungeun looks over and her eyes widen as she watches two girls struggle through the forest with bags and suitcases.

 

“Oh, _look_! We’re here!” the blonde one exclaims happily, as if there weren’t leaves stuck in her hair and dirt smeared across her face. The shorter of the two, a girl with pink hair, frowns as she walks ahead.

 

Jungeun’s watching them with amusement all over her face, “Hi..?”

 

The blonde one jumps, just noticing Jungeun’s presence, “Hi!”

 

The pink-haired one frowns, “Wait… there’s parking here?”

 

Jungeun nods, “It’s in front of the cabin. There’s a small path we had to take to get here, though.”

 

The pink-haired one smacks the blonde one upside the head, “You _idiot_ ! I **told** you there was a parking place nearby.”

 

“How was I supposed to know?!” the blonde one yelps, swatting the other girl’s hand away, “It wasn’t on the GPS!”

 

Jungeun smiles, “You’re the last ones to arrive. The last bedroom has two twin beds.”

 

“Oh, _good_ ,” the pink-haired one sighs in relief, “I was **not** sharing a bed with this one.”

 

“Hey…” the blonde pouts.

 

“Anyway,” the pink-haired girl rolls her eyes, “my name’s Vivi. This is Jinsol.”

 

“I’m Jungeun,” Jungeun replies. She walks towards Jinsol, who’s trying to lift her suitcase over a rock, “Here.”

 

She bends down and helps the girl get the wheels unstuck from below the rock, standing up and smiling when she sees that Jinsol’s grinning down at her.

 

Vivi’s already entering the cabin through the back door just as Jinsol and Jungeun are heading up the patio steps.

 

“You must be the best friend that Jiwoo’s been going on about nonstop,” Jinsol says.

 

Jungeun feels her face warm up, “Yeah, that’s me.”

 

“It’s cute,” Jinsol points out, “how much she talks about you.”

 

“Is it?” Jungeun mutters, “I hope you don’t have, like, super high expectations from me.”

 

“Nah, nothing like that,” Jinsol shakes her head as she enters the cabin, “I just think you two are cute together.”

 

“Huh? _Oh_ —no, it’s not like… _that_ ,” Jungeun shakes her head, feels her ears turning redder by the second, “she’s not—we’re not…”

 

“Ah, sorry I got it mixed up, then,” Jinsol apologizes sheepishly, “I just assumed since she’s so talkative about you.”

 

“It’s alright—a lot of people assume that she and I are dating,” Jungeun says. She feels herself calming down, “she has a girlfriend anyway.”

 

“Right, right,” Jinsol nods, “and… how about you?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Do _you_ have a girlfriend?”

 

“Oh, no,” Jungeun scrunches up her nose, “I’m single.”

 

…

 

There’s a brief moment of silence, and then:

 

“Jinsol! Get your ass up here and come look at this view from our room!”

 

Jinsol grins, “I’m being **summoned**.”

 

Jungeun laughs, “Go ahead. I’m gonna go find Jiwoo.”

 

Jinsol hurries up the stairs as fast as she can with her heavy suitcase and Jungeun walks towards the front door. She spots Jiwoo helping Sooyoung and Haseul with a few more bags.

 

She opens the door for them, “Haseul, you weren’t kidding when you said you like to come prepared.”

 

“ **_Overly_ ** prepared,” Sooyoung grunts as she gets a rather large suitcase up the last step, “babe, we did not need to pack your _entire bathroom_ in one bag.”

 

“Oh, hush up,” Haseul chides playfully with a roll of her eyes, “you’ll be thanking me for bringing something—just watch!”

 

Jiwoo giggles at their bickering and sends a grin towards Jungeun.

 

“Vivi and Jinsol are here, by the way,” Jungeun says to the three who are now heading towards the stairs. She closes the door and follows them.

 

“Oh! Hey!”

 

Voices are mixed in as they all exchange greetings with each other. Jungeun can’t help but smile at the crowded hallway. There’s only six of them, but it’s enough to make the place feel cramped (but not uncomfortably so).

 

“Are you all hungry? Jungeun and I packed hot dogs!”

 

There’s a chorus of ‘yes’s and Jiwoo looks back towards her friend.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Jungeun turns on her heel and heads back down towards the living room/kitchen area. She rolls the cooler into the kitchen and decides to unpack all the food and drinks she and Jiwoo had brought, loading them into the fridge. She keeps the hot dogs out on the table.

 

Jinsol walks into the kitchen, followed by Vivi and Sooyoung.

 

“Need any help?” Jinsol asks.

 

Jungeun looks around the kitchen, “Find me a pan to cook these hot dogs on?”

 

“A _pan_?” Sooyoung raises an eyebrow, “Isn’t there a grill outside?”

 

“Yes, but…” Jungeun frowns, “I don’t know how to work a grill.”

 

“I’ll show you,” Sooyoung says, walking to the patio door. She waves Jungeun over, “Come on.”

 

-

 

Six hot dogs are served (with four left over for anyone who wants seconds). They sit at the outdoor table, an easy-flowing conversation happening between them as they eat. Jungeun listens more than she talks, but she likes it that way.

 

She realizes that Jiwoo had been right about these girls.

 

They all are really nice, _and_ funny.

 

Vivi and Jinsol are the kind of friends who fight with each other all the time, but never seriously. Jungeun can tell just from spending a couple of hours with them that they do care about each other, it’s just more tough love than anything (the ‘tough’ part usually comes from Vivi).

 

Sooyoung and Haseul are _definitely_ in love. Jungeun can’t look at the two of them without feeling like she’s intruding on something—especially when they’re making eye contact with one another. It’s just so… _lovey-dovey_. But it’s sweet, too, Jungeun supposes.

 

“How was your last year of high school, Jiwoo and Jungeun?” Sooyoung asks as she finishes her last bite of the hot dog.

 

“It was fine,” Jungeun answers with a shrug.

 

Jiwoo giggles, “Jungeun _hated_ it.”

 

“I did not,” Jungeun replies, “I just… didn’t _love_ it.”

 

“You _despised_ it,” Jiwoo says.

 

“Whatever,” Jungeun grumbles.

 

“Really?” Jinsol asks, “My senior year was my favorite year of high school.”

 

“Yeah,” Vivi snorts, “because all you did was make out with cute girls at parties.”

 

“No! That’s not why!” Jinsol exclaims with bright pink cheeks.

 

“I did that a few times,” Sooyoung pipes in.

 

“Yeah, _I_ know,” Haseul says, feigning annoyance. Sooyoung laughs and squeezes the hand she’s holding.

 

Jungeun grins, shaking her head, “Making out with cute girls probably would’ve made my senior year better.”

 

“Rough year?” Haseul asks with a sympathetic look on her face.

 

“Sorta,” Jungeun shrugs. She glances over at Jiwoo, who catches her gaze.

 

“Jungeun just didn’t like the people that went to our school,” she says, speaking up for her best friend, “our school was filled with…”

 

“Idiots,” Jungeun mumbles.

 

“Yeah, _idiots_ ,” Jiwoo repeats, “but we’re out now! And that’s all that matters.”

 

Jinsol hums, and then decides to lift the mood, “Vivi _begged_ not to be in the yearbook her senior year.”

 

“Hey—you **bitch**!” Vivi reaches over to grab at Jinsol’s throat for the sudden exposing and Jinsol jokingly makes a choking sound. The girls all laugh and once Vivi’s sat down in her seat again, Haseul speaks up.

 

“Why’d you beg for _that_?”

 

Vivi rolls her eyes, “I hated every single person in my class. I didn’t want any of them remembering me because I didn’t want to remember any of them.”

 

…

 

Sooyoung whistles, “Talk about teen-angst.”

 

Vivi shoots her a glare, but the corners of her lips twitch upwards.

 

Haseul lightly shoves her girlfriend on the shoulder and Jungeun smiles. Her eyes eventually make eye-contact with Jinsol, and she finds herself looking down at her lap shyly.

 

“How long have you known each other?” Haseul asks, looking between Vivi and Jinsol.

 

Jinsol smiles, “I’ve known her since elementary school.”

 

“She was the annoying little girl next door,” Vivi rolls her eyes, “she’d follow me _everywhere_.”

 

“She’s always been so mean to me,” Jinsol shakes her head, “but now I’m bigger **and** stronger than her so—”

 

She reaches over to ruffle Vivi’s hair, but Vivi slaps her hand away quickly, causing the group to laugh again.

 

Their laughter dies down eventually and they settle into a comfortable silence.

 

Jungeun never knew she could feel so _at ease_ with a group of strangers, but: _here she is_.

 

…

 

“How cold do you think the water is right now?” Jiwoo asks suddenly.

 

Jungeun’s head snaps up, “Jiwoo, _no_.”

 

“Jiwoo, _yes_!” Vivi grins deviously, “Let’s go for a swim.”

 

When more of the group starts to agree, Jungeun’s mouth falls open in awe, “Seriously?”

 

“The sun’s not down yet!” Jinsol smiles, standing from the table and hurrying inside. Over her shoulder, she shouts, “Go change!”

 

Everyone’s already run into the house except for Jiwoo and Jungeun.

 

Jiwoo eyes Jungeun, “You don’t have to swim, you know?”

 

Jungeun avoids her gaze, “It’s embarrassing…”

 

“Just stay in the shallow part,” Jiwoo says to her friend, grabbing onto her hand and holding it tightly, “I won’t let you drift away, I promise.”

 

Jungeun sighs, nodding, “Fine.”

 

Jiwoo’s smile brightens and she drags Jungeun to their shared room so they can slip on their bikinis.

 

-

 

The group stands at the shore, just in front of the pond.

 

“Who’s going in first?” Haseul asks.

 

Vivi answers by shoving Jinsol forward.

 

The blonde girl yelps as she stumbles forward, and then she squeals because it’s **cold**.

 

Jinsol grabs onto Vivi and drags her into the water, pushing her deeper and causing her to actually go underneath the surface. It’s then that Sooyoung and Haseul rush forward, hand-in-hand.

 

“ **Shit** ! It’s _freezing_!” Vivi shouts as she resurfaces.

 

“Oh, jeez,” Jungeun murmurs nervously.

 

Jiwoo smiles at her, “It’ll be fun! Let’s go!”

 

Jungeun has no option but to follow Jiwoo (she can never refuse the girl) into the frigid pond.

 

She stops walking further into the pond when the water hits her upper stomach. She feels goosebumps on her arms and tenses up. She spots Jinsol coming closer.

 

“Hi,” Jinsol greets.

 

“Hi,” Jungeun replies warily.

 

“Don’t like the water?” Jinsol asks with a tilt of her head.

 

“No, not really,” Jungeun answers, “especially not when it’s this cold.”

 

“It feels less cold after you dunk yourself a few times,” Jinsol says, “come on.”

 

“No,” Jungeun shakes her head, “I’m okay here.”

 

“Just trust me,” Jinsol says, holding out her hand.

 

“I literally just met you today,” Jungeun retorts.

 

“Come _on_ ,” Jinsol urges.

 

…

 

“Fine,” Jungeun takes hold of Jinsol’s hand and allows herself to go deeper into the water.

 

She hears Jiwoo and Vivi having a splashing war and thinks that as long as she keeps hold of Jinsol’s hand, she’ll be fine.

 

She doesn’t need Jiwoo to babysit her.

 

Except she doesn’t think the pond would suddenly get a _lot_ deeper, and she finds herself yelping and immediately clinging onto Jinsol’s shoulders when she steps into the drop-off and nearly dunks her head underneath.

 

“Oh, _woah_ —Hey,” Jinsol lets out, stepping back onto shallower sand. She wraps an arm around Jungeun’s waist, “You alright?”

 

“Uhm,” Jungeun’s face is red. She tries to put space between her and Jinsol’s bodies.

 

She looks away from Jinsol, letting go of her shoulders since she can tip-toe and touch the ground now. The arm around her waist releases until it’s just a hand holding onto her hip.

 

Jungeun coughs awkwardly, “I… I don’t know how to swim,” she admits quietly.

 

She waits for the surprised look and the teasing comments, but nothing comes.

 

When Jungeun looks back at Jinsol, she just finds a tiny smile on the girl’s pink lips.

 

“I can teach you how to swim, if you want?” she offers.

 

“What?” Jungeun blinks.

 

“I’m a lifeguard,” Jinsol smiles, “and I used to work at my local pool. I taught people how to swim as a part-time job in high school.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah,” Jinsol laughs, “I can teach you. Right now.”

 

“I’m gonna make a fool out of myself,” Jungeun grumbles.

 

“Nonsense,” Jinsol shakes her head. She tugs on Jungeun’s side, pulling her closer, “if anything, you can just grab onto me and I’ll bring you back to the shallow side.”

 

“Jungie, are you alright?!” Jiwoo calls from further down the pond. She’s still with Vivi.

 

(Haseul and Sooyoung are just swimming around, in their own world.)

 

Jungeun looks over and nods, “I’m fine!”

 

Jinsol’s still staring at her when Jungeun returns her gaze.

 

“Okay,” Jinsol says, “first: you have to learn how to tread. It’s kind of like riding a bicycle… sort of.”

 

“Sort of,” Jungeun repeats skeptically.

 

“Yeah, but you also have to do this motion with your hands,” Jinsol shows the motion.

 

“Okay,” Jungeun says.

 

“Don’t panic,” Jinsol says to her, “you don’t want to use _too_ much energy on treading. You want to use just enough to keep your body weight up.”

 

“Jinsol, I have _no_ idea what that means,” Jungeun deadpans.

 

“Just try it first,” Jinsol says, “and grab onto me if you don’t think you can do it.”

 

Jungeun puffs up her cheeks. She steps off where the sudden drop-off is and tries to tread, but then immediately grabs onto Jinsol’s outstretched hand. The blonde girl pulls Jungeun in instantly, arm wrapping around Jungeun’s waist.

 

“What was _that_?” Jinsol asks.

 

“I panicked,” Jungeun squeaks.

 

“I noticed,” Jinsol smiles, “here, how about you try treading water while I hold onto you?”

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun nods.

 

And this time, Jungeun doesn’t panic.

 

That is, until she feels Jinsol let go of her.

 

She reaches out and clings onto Jinsol’s shoulders, legs wrapping around the girl’s waist for extra support, “Why’d you let go?”

 

“Because you were doing it!” Jinsol laughs, “You panicked again.”

 

“This is scary,” Jungeun whines, too caught up in being scared of the water to be embarrassed at how close she is to Jinsol (they’re body-to-body right now), “I don’t like the water.”

 

“But I think everyone should learn how to swim,” Jinsol says, “just in case.”

 

“Yeah, well,” Jungeun grunts, slowly feeling the nervousness of their skin touching ease into her, “I think I’ve learned enough for today.”

 

“You haven’t dunked your head underneath though,” Jinsol points out.

 

“So?”

 

“Hold your breath,” Jinsol orders.

 

“What?” Jungeun asks, and then her eyes widen because she feels both of Jinsol’s arms wrap tightly around her waist.

 

In the next second, she’s underwater.

 

And in the following second, she’s back at the surface.

 

“ _Jinsol_!” she screams, splashing the blonde in the face as the blonde laughs.

 

She lets go of Jinsol, only to realize that she’s still in the deep end.

 

Jinsol realizes this, too, because she’s quick to grab back onto Jungeun’s waist as the girl yelps.

 

Jinsol pulls her close.

 

“God, I hate you,” Jungeun mumbles, pushing wet strands of hair away from her face as the embarrassment settles in. She lowers her head against Jinsol’s shoulder to hide herself.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Jinsol laughs, heading towards the shallower waters for Jungeun’s sake.

 

-

 

The six girls sit in the living room area together, all showered and dressed in comfortable pajamas as the large flat screen plays some scary movie about an exorcism gone wrong.

 

Jiwoo and Jungeun are sat on the couch with Jinsol and Vivi next to them, and the girlfriends Sooyoung and Haseul are sat on the armchair together. A large blanket spans across the laps of the four girls on the couch and Sooyoung and Haseul have a smaller, fluffier one.

 

The movie continues on and, to be honest, Jungeun’s a little creeped out, but she tries not to show it.

 

However, when a pop-up happens, her leg twitches and Jiwoo, who’s sat next to her, turns to look at her with wide eyes.

 

“Jungie, are you scared?” she asks innocently. She doesn’t mean to catch the attention of everyone in the room, but every pair of eyes turn to look at Jungeun anyway.

 

“ _No_ ,” Jungeun grumbles, “I’m not scared.”

 

“It’s okay to be scared,” Jiwoo smiles and cuddles closer to Jungeun, grabbing onto her best friend’s hand, “but remember that it’s just a movie!”

 

“I’m _not_ scared,” Jungeun whines, pushing Jiwoo away.

 

“It’s fine. I mean, look at Vivi. She’s currently shitting herself,” Jinsol, who’s sat on the other side of Jungeun, points out with a smile.

 

“Am _not_ ,” Vivi declines.

 

“You’re biting your nails,” Jinsol points out, “you do that when you’re nervous.”

 

“Fuck you!” Vivi retorts, dropping her hands from her mouth.

 

The bickering makes the rest of the girls laugh, and Sooyoung offers to change the movie.

 

“No,” Jungeun shakes her head, “it’s fine. This is interesting. I’m not scared.”

 

The conversation ends there as everyone turns their gaze back towards the TV—everyone except for the blonde sitting on Jungeun’s left.

 

Jungeun tries not to let Jinsol’s gaze on her side-profile affect her, but she can already feel her ears starting to warm up. The blanket that’s spread across their laps shifts as Jungeun pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them with both arms.

 

Jinsol looks away, but not before slowly reaching up and taking hold of Jungeun’s wrist.

 

Jungeun lets her left arm fall slack, down onto the couch. She feels Jinsol’s fingers trail downwards as they interlace between Jungeun’s. Jungeun’s entire face is _burning_ , but thankfully no one notices in the darkness.

 

When the next pop-up happens, Jinsol squeezes Jungeun’s hand in reassurance and Jungeun feels her heart hammer rapidly against her chest for more reasons than one.

 

-

 

Jungeun wakes up to quiet chatter, her head resting on someone’s shoulder as a light flickers on. She groans and buries her face further into the person’s body before pausing and realizing that she's leaning onto her _left_ side, meaning she's leaning on—

 

“Were you that tired?” Jinsol’s voice comes off as slightly teasing. There’s a grogginess to her tone, the kind that people get when it’s late at night and they haven’t spoken in a while.

 

Jungeun sits up immediately, eyes widening and blinking to adjust to the suddenness of her movements.

 

Jinsol raises her eyebrows and smiles, “You good?”

 

They’re still holding hands. Jungeun slips her hand away and nods, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

She looks around and sees that Haseul and Sooyoung are already gone, probably have retreated to their room while Jungeun was sleeping. Jiwoo’s standing up and shutting the TV off as she stretches, yawning as she does so.

 

“Come on, Jungie,” she reaches out her hand to Jungeun, “let’s go wash up and then sleep.”

 

“Okay,” Jungeun mumbles groggily, tossing the blanket off of her lap and grabbing hold of Jiwoo’s hand.

 

(She tries not to think about how much colder she feels without being pressed against Jinsol’s side as Jiwoo drags her to the bathroom.)

 

“You fell asleep in the middle of Finding Dory,” Jiwoo states, squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush before doing the same for Jungeun.

 

“I’ve already seen Finding Dory,” Jungeun says. The two stand side-by-side in the bathroom, making eye contact through the mirror in front of them.

 

“It’s still a good movie,” Jiwoo replies, mouth muffled by the toothbrush in her cheeks. Jungeun hums and continues to brush her teeth.

 

She goes to spit at the same time Jiwoo does, and it causes the two girls to playfully push each other away. Jiwoo squeals probably a bit too loud for one in the morning.

 

Jiwoo spits and then Jungeun spits.

 

“I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this week,” Jiwoo says before brushing her teeth again.

 

Jungeun smiles and nods, feeling a flutter in her stomach as she hears Jinsol and Vivi arguing in the living room.

 

“I think so, too,” she says.

 

**day two.**

 

Being someone who wakes up early everyday regardless of what time she goes to sleep, Jungeun’s awake before anyone else in the cabin.

 

She spends the first hour in bed on her phone, scrolling through various social media and playing a couple games of Sudoku before quietly getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

 

Surprisingly, she hears some noise coming from the kitchen.

 

Changing her path, Jungeun heads down the stairs and smiles tiredly when she sees Sooyoung and Haseul whispering to each other. They’re stood in front of the stove with their backs facing Jungeun, clearly cooking something.

 

“Morning,” Jungeun calls out.

 

The couple turns around at the same time, both taken aback that someone’s up this early.

 

“Hey, Jungeun,” Haseul greets, “you’re up early.”

 

“Yeah, it’s a habit,” Jungeun smiles, “what are you two doing?”

 

Sooyoung spreads her arms out and blocks Jungeun’s view of the stove, “It’s a secret.”

 

Jungeun quirks up an eyebrow.

 

Haseul waves her away, “Go get washed up and go back to bed. The food’s not done yet. We’ll call you when it is.”

 

“I can help, if you want,” Jungeun offers, “I can—”

 

“No, no,” Sooyoung shakes her head, “go back to bed. We got this.”

 

Jungeun lets out an amused chuckle and nods, “Alright, if you insist.”

 

She turns around and heads back up the stairs to get to the bathroom. Jungeun’s in the middle of brushing her teeth when the door gets nudged open and in walks Jinsol with adorable bed-hair, her eyes barely open.

 

“Hi,” Jinsol greets tiredly.

 

Jungeun shuffles over to the side so Jinsol can stand next to her, humming a greeting.

 

The blonde girl reaches for her toothbrush and starts brushing her teeth. She leans her hip on the counter, eyes closed as she brushes.

 

(Jungeun worries that she might actually fall back asleep.)

 

After rinsing her mouth, Jungeun speaks up.

 

“Why are you up so early?”

 

“I heard you guys talking,” Jinsol answers. There’s toothpaste foam about to drip down her chin.

 

Jungeun doesn’t think much when she reaches up and wipes it away with her thumb. Jinsol’s still too tired to realize what had just happened, but she still mumbles a quiet ‘thank you’.

 

The action had been so natural that Jungeun only starts to freak out about it a few moments _after_.

 

She washes her hands and face, hoping the cold water will stop the warm blush spreading across her skin.

 

“E’cuse me,” Jinsol mutters, mouth full of toothpaste.

 

Jungeun moves to the side as Jinsol spits and rinses.

 

“Haseul and Sooyoung are making us breakfast,” Jungeun says, trying to talk away her embarrassment, “they kicked me out of the kitchen because they want it to be a surprise.”

 

Jinsol hums as she washes her face (and ends up splashing water all over the counter).

 

Jungeun smiles at the girl’s messiness, shaking her head as she takes a small towel and wipes the water up.

 

“Should we leave the lovebirds alone, then?” Jinsol asks, turning to Jungeun as she starts to pull her hair up into a ponytail.

 

“They told me to go back to bed,” Jungeun says.

 

“Boo! _Boring_ ,” Jinsol replies.

 

“Wh—”

 

“Take a walk with me,” Jinsol suggests, “Vivi and I left our car in the parking lot of some park a few blocks away. I need to go get it and bring it here.”

 

“Oh,” Jungeun replies, remembering how she’d seen the two girls come out of the forest in a mess the other day. _That’s_ where they’d come from. She nods, “Okay, sure.”

 

“Great, let me just grab my keys. Go get dressed and then we can go.”

 

-

 

“I can’t believe you and Vivi dragged your suitcases through all of _this_ ,” Jungeun says in disbelief as she steps over a fallen branch and almost trips over a hidden root.

 

Jinsol grabs onto her wrist to keep her from falling flat on her face.

 

“Why do you think we looked like shit when we got out of here?” Jinsol laughs.

 

Jungeun gives her a sheepish smile, embarrassed at her stumble. Jinsol’s hand slides down to grab onto Jungeun’s hand and they continue to walk through the dense forest together.

 

“How did you even find the cabin?” Jungeun asks, pretending the shakiness in her voice is due to the harsh terrain and not because Jinsol’s holding onto her so tightly.

 

“GPS,” Jinsol answers with a grin.

 

“The GPS brought you through a _forest_ to get to the cabin but it didn’t show you the parking lot in front of it?”

 

“Yeah,” Jinsol giggles. Jungeun smiles at the noise, letting out her own laugh.

 

-

 

“You and Vivi seem close,” Jungeun points out for the sake of conversation, trying to ignore the fact that her hands might be clammy.

 

(They’re _totally_ clammy.)

 

Jinsol hops down a rock and helps Jungeun down as well.

 

“Well,” Jinsol hums, “she’s like my sister. My very _annoying_ , very _mean_ , older sister.”

 

Jungeun snorts and Jinsol smiles.

 

“Don’t tell her I told you this, but…” Jinsol leans in close and playfully whispers into Jungeun’s ear, “... she actually loves me despite how much she says she hates me.”

 

Jungeun laughs off the nervousness and the chills that spread across her body. She takes a deep breath after Jinsol’s moved away, the voice in her head telling her to calm the _hell_ down.

 

“We show our love for each other by teasing each other,” Jinsol says, like she’s proud of this, “but when it comes down to it, we’d do anything for each other.”

 

“That’s sweet…” Jungeun replies, “... I think.”

 

Jinsol laughs loudly at this, “It’s sweet in our own way.”

 

She then nudges shoulders with Jungeun, “How about you and Jiwoo? You two are the closest of the close, aren’t you?”

 

“Childhood best friends,” Jungeun replies, “Jiwoo’s been in my life for… well, _all my life_.”

 

“It must be a strong friendship for you two to still be close after all these years,” Jinsol smiles softly. The two are walking slower now, getting more caught up in their conversation than they are in getting out of the forest, “I know firsthand that people change during high school. Friends always came and went for me. It’s interesting to see you and Jiwoo having a bond that strong.”

 

Jungeun’s heart skips a beat as she nods. She looks down at her feet, not meeting Jinsol’s gaze.

 

“We kind of grew apart during our second year of high school,” Jungeun admits, “apparently it was because she was too scared to come out to me. Little did she know…”

 

“That you were gay, too?” Jinsol finishes the sentence for her in a questioning tone.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun chuckles, “I, uhm… I actually liked her back then.”

 

“Ouch,” Jinsol mutters, “considering you’re single and she’s not, I’m guessing that didn’t go too well?”

 

“Well, I…” Jungeun trails off, “I never told her.”

 

Jinsol pauses, which makes Jungeun pause as well because they’re still holding hands.

 

“Wait… you never told her?”

 

Jungeun shakes her head, “She had a… _thing_ with one of the underclassmen. Her current girlfriend right now, actually. There was really no right timing for me to tell her without making things awkward.”

 

“Shit…” Jinsol says quietly, “that sucks.”

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun shrugs, “it’s okay. That was a while ago. I’m over it now. She and I are better as friends.”

 

Jinsol scrunches up her nose and continues walking, “That sounded like a robotic-ass response, Jungeun.”

 

“What?” Jungeun replies, taken aback.

 

“It sounds like something you’d repeat to yourself over and over to get yourself to believe it,” Jinsol further explains, “I would know. I’ve been there.”

 

“Wait—you and Vivi…?”

 

“Oh, _hell_ no!” Jinsol declines the assumption immediately, “Definitely _not_ Vivi!”

 

The tense atmosphere from seconds ago dissipates into the air as the two start giggling at Jinsol’s exclamation.

 

Jinsol’s chuckles die down, “No, it… it was someone on my volleyball team. We were close for a while and then she got a boyfriend and then… yeah.”

 

“Ouch,” Jungeun repeats Jinsol’s word from earlier.

 

“Yeah, ouch,” Jinsol hums.

 

“But,” Jungeun says, “I… I’m actually over Jiwoo.”

 

“Really?” Jinsol lifts an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun nods, “I just… never told anybody about this before. That’s why I gave that ‘ _robotic-ass response_ ’...”

 

Jungeun looks away for a split-second, feeling uneasy with the way Jinsol’s staring at her. She wants Jinsol to know that she isn’t tied down to unreciprocated feelings and that she’s… up for something _new_ —but she doesn’t have the confidence to be so blunt and straightforward.

 

Thankfully, the idea seems to click in the blonde’s mind, because she grins.

 

“That’s good to know,” Jinsol replies.

 

The conversation’s cut short as they see the end of the forest and the beginning of a parking lot.

 

“Oh, there’s my car!” Jinsol says excitedly, pointing to a sleek black sedan.

 

Jungeun lets out a small breath of relief.

 

The car beeps as Jinsol presses a button on her keys. They head towards the car with Jungeun sliding into the passenger seat and Jinsol into the driver’s.

 

Jungeun’s clipping in her seatbelt when she hears Jinsol laugh. She looks up just as Jinsol reaches a hand up and pulls a leaf out of her hair.

 

She holds it up in front of Jungeun’s face, “You had a little something on you.”

 

“Thanks,” Jungeun blushes. She attempts to calm herself down as Jinsol turns the engine on and peels out of the parking lot.

 

“So, which way’s the way to the cabin?”

 

-

 

When Jinsol and Jungeun enter through the cabin’s front door, the rest of the girls are all gathered in the dining room.

 

“Ah, you two are back! Go clean up and then come down to eat,” Sooyoung greets them.

 

Jiwoo points to Jungeun angrily, “You! Where’d you go? I thought you got kidnapped!”

 

“ _I_ kidnapped her,” Jinsol grins, holding up her car keys and then looking over to Vivi, “I got my car and drove it to the cabin’s parking lot.”

 

“Good,” Vivi grumbles with a mouth full of soft pancakes.

 

“We’ll be right down,” Jinsol says as she and Jungeun walk to the bathroom together.

 

They wash their hands and brush out the knots in their hair before returning to the kitchen. Jiwoo’s saved a seat for Jungeun in between her and Vivi. The plate that Jungeun sits in front of is already stacked with pancakes and bacon and eggs.

 

“Thanks,” Jungeun says quietly to Jiwoo because she knows that it’s the other girl who’d gotten all the food for her.

 

“Eat up,” Jiwoo smiles brightly.

 

—

 

After breakfast, the girls all thank Sooyoung and Haseul for cooking the food. The couple waves off the compliments humbly.

 

“It’s the least we can do,” Haseul smiles, “Sooyoung and I actually plan on ditching you guys for the day,”

 

Vivi smirks, wiggling her eyebrows, “To go have… _fun_?”

 

“We’re going to the _beach_ ,” Sooyoung playfully slaps Vivi’s shoulder, “don’t be nasty.”

 

“Hey,” Vivi shrugs, “you gotta do what you gotta do.”

 

“Beach sex isn’t fun,” Jinsol states with a look of disgust, “I would know.”

 

“Thanks for the information,” Haseul drawls, “we’re not going to have sex.”

 

“I didn’t know there was a beach nearby,” Jiwoo comments, ignoring the rated conversation completely.

 

“It’s actually an hour away,” Sooyoung says, “Haseul and I planned this as a date but… we can drive you all there if you want, and _then_ we can ditch you?”

 

Jiwoo immediately looks over to Jungeun for her input.

 

Jungeun blinks, “What?”

 

“Do you want to go?” Jiwoo asks, “I know you don’t like the beach…”

 

“Jiwoo, if you want to go, you can go,” Jungeun says, “I’m fine with staying here by myself.”

 

“I get sunburnt easily,” Jinsol states, “I’ll stay back here with you.”

 

Vivi scoffs, “I need to get a _tan_. I’m going. Jiwoo, you in?”

 

Jiwoo looks worriedly at Jungeun, but Jungeun just rolls her eyes, “Jiwoo, I know you want to go.”

 

“But I don’t want to leave you alone…”

 

“I’m not alone, I have Jinsol,” Jungeun replies, “go have fun.”

 

“Are you sure?” Jiwoo pouts.

 

“I’m positive,” Jungeun hums.

 

“Well,” Haseul claps her hands, “go get your things, Vivi and Jiwoo. Jinsol and Jungeun, you’re on cleaning duty, then!”

 

“Wait, what—” Jinsol starts off, but is interrupted as everyone’s chairs screech as they get up and hurry to their rooms.

 

Jungeun and Jinsol are the only ones left seated, and they looked at each other in disbelief before Jinsol cracks and starts to laugh. Jungeun laughs as well, standing from her chair and starting to stack the plates.

 

“I guess we’re on cleaning duty,” Jinsol says. She starts collecting the utensils and brings them to the sink, “I’ll wash, you dry.”

 

“Got it,” Jungeun replies, walking towards the sink and gently placing the plates down.

 

She leans back on the counter and waits for Jinsol to hand her the dishes for her to dry. Sometime during their cleaning, the rest of the girls say their goodbyes and go off to the beach for the day, leaving Jinsol and Jungeun alone.

 

“You don’t like the beach?” Jinsol asks as she hands Jungeun a bowl.

 

“Nope,” Jungeun replies, drying it off with a towel and then placing it in one of the cupboards, “Too many people. Too much sand.”

 

“Understandable,” Jinsol nods as she scrubs a pan with leftover, soggy scrambled eggs stuck to its side, “I don’t actually burn easily.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I only said that so you wouldn’t have to suffer at the beach or stay here alone,” Jinsol grins, looking over towards Jungeun.

 

Jungeun’s mouth opens in shock, “What…? You could’ve gone! If you wanted to go then you should’ve—”

 

“ _Nah_ ,” Jinsol shakes her head, “I’m not that fond of the beach, either. It’s fine. Besides, we can continue your swimming lessons today.”

 

“No,” Jungeun deadpans.

 

“Yes,” Jinsol replies with a twinkle in her eye.

 

-

 

And now they’re in their bikinis, the pond-water up to their chests.

 

“Let’s start with treading again,” Jinsol says.

 

“It’s still fucking _freezing_ in here,” Jungeun replies with chattering teeth.

 

“It was colder yesterday and you were still in here,” Jinsol points out. She puts her hands on Jungeun’s upper arm and rubs up and down in order to generate some heat for the younger girl.

 

Jungeun, although she appreciates the gesture, frowns.

 

“You know what’ll warm you right up?” Jinsol asks.

 

“What?” Jungeun replies skeptically.

 

“ _Swimming_ ,” Jinsol raises her eyebrows excitedly, “start treading!”

 

“What?!” Jungeun yelps, grabbing onto Jinsol’s shoulders as she feels Jinsol start pushing her deeper into the water, “Jinsol!”

 

Despite Jungeun squealing into her ear, Jinsol continues walking.

 

She tries to peel the girl off of her, but to no avail. Jungeun’s nails are practically digging into her skin.

 

“You’re like a koala!” Jinsol laughs, “Let go! I’ll hold onto you while you tread!”

 

“You said that last time but then you let go of me and I almost _drowned_!” Jungeun whines, keeping a tight grip on Jinsol’s shoulders and wrapping her legs around her waist.

 

“You did _not_ almost drown,” Jinsol scoffs as Jungeun buries her face into her neck, “I was right there!”

 

“I almost _drowned_!”

 

“Okay, okay,” Jinsol sighs, leaning her head against Jungeun’s, “how about we try to get you to float on your back?”

 

Jungeun thinks it’s time for her to let go of Jinsol, but the water’s cold and Jinsol’s body is _warm_.

 

Jinsol clears her throat at the no response and taps Jungeun’s waist, “Hey, Jungeun?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Try and float on your back,” Jinsol suggests.

 

“Do I have to?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“... _Fine_.”

 

Jinsol feels Jungeun’s body shift and she places her hands beneath the younger girl’s back.

 

“How am I supposed to just… _float_?” Jungeun asks, body curled into a ball in front of Jinsol. Her right arm is still hooked around the back of Jinsol’s neck.

 

“Lay back and stick your stomach upwards,”

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me,” Jinsol grins, “ _C’mon_. I’ll hold you. Besides, we’re in the shallow part now.”

 

“ _Okay_ ,” Jungeun murmurs, slowly letting go of Jinsol and turning. She leans back and does as Jinsol says.

 

“Spread your arms out and try to center your weight,” Jinsol instructs, her hands still underneath Jungeun. She’s slowly but surely removing her hands so Jungeun begins to float by herself, “you’re doing it!”

 

Jungeun closes her eyes and lets out the smallest chuckle, careful not to shake her body too much. As she opens her eyes, she turns her head and sees Jinsol smiling down at her.

 

“Now you know what to do if you’re _really_ drowning,” Jinsol teases.

 

Jungeun rolls her eyes and Jinsol just laughs loudly.

 

Jinsol starts to jump up and down in the water, creating waves and causing Jungeun’s body to shake with the ripples.

 

“What are you doing?” Jungeun asks,

 

“Trying to create an environment similar to the ocean,” Jinsol replies, still trying to generate more waves.

 

Water ends up getting into Jungeun’s mouth and she spits it out, getting off her back and standing up.

 

The facial expression she gives Jinsol is _very_ unamused.

 

“What?” Jinsol stops jumping, feigning innocence with wide eyes and a slight pout, “You need to be _prepared_.”

 

“Prepared for what?” Jungeun feels herself start to crack, her scowl slowly turning into a smile.

 

“Prepared for the ocean’s scary, dangerous waves!”

 

“You’re being very extra right now,” Jungeun laughs, splashing Jinsol with water.

 

Jinsol gasps before she narrows her eyes.

 

_Uh-oh…_

 

Jungeun squeals loudly as Jinsol splashes her back.

 

The water feels much colder when it’s being _thrown_ against her face.

 

When she goes to retaliate, Jinsol swims further away, deeper into the pond where she _knows_ Jungeun can’t follow her.

 

“That’s not fair!” Jungeun whines, attempting to splash Jinsol with water. Jinsol’s too far away for it to reach her, though.

 

Jinsol sticks her tongue out and Jungeun splashes some more water into her direction.

 

“Come back here!”

 

“You’re gonna have to come out _here_!”  Jinsol replies.

 

“Do you _want_ me to drown under your supervision?” Jungeun scoffs.

 

“That’s alright. I’m CPR-certified!” Jinsol grins.

 

Jungeun rolls her eyes and turns around, mostly because she doesn’t want Jinsol to see the blush on her cheeks at the thought of Jinsol’s lips on hers.

 

She hears the water splashing behind her as Jinsol walks closer, and then feels Jinsol’s chin resting on her shoulder.

 

“Okay,” Jinsol says, “splash me.”

 

Jungeun snorts at the sudden order, raising an eyebrow and looking at Jinsol.

 

Jinsol shrugs, “I feel bad for teasing you. Splash me.”

 

Jungeun does as she’s told.

 

She splashes a _shit-load_ of water towards Jinsol’s face.

 

-

 

Once they feel their fingers and toes start to prune and wrinkle, they head inside.

 

“You go ahead and shower first,” Jinsol waves Jungeun off, “I’ll make some food.”

 

“Okay,” Jungeun smiles, heading up the stairs and towards the bathroom.

 

However, Jungeun realizes she’s messed up a bit when she exits the shower and sees that she forgot to get clothes to change into. She hadn’t brought a towel, either.

 

“ _Shit…_ ” Jungeun whispers. She shuffles towards the bathroom door, careful not to slip on the tiles, and opens it. She peaks her head out.

 

“Jinsol!” Jungeun calls out.

 

There’s a pause, and then:

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Can you get me a towel?!”

 

She hears Jinsol coming up the stairs and then she sees Jinsol, still in her bikini with a towel wrapped around her shoulders, standing in the hallway. She looks at Jungeun amusedly.

 

“You forgot your towel?” she asks.

 

“And my clothes,” Jungeun says sheepishly, “just get me a towel, please? The red one in my room.”

 

“Gotcha,” Jinsol hums, turning on her heels and going off to retrieve the towel.

 

When Jinsol comes back, she sticks the towel into Jungeun’s outstretched hand. She has her own shower things in her arm, though.

 

“Food’s ready, by the way,” she says, “I already ate some. You can eat the rest while I shower.”

 

Jungeun blinks when she realizes that Jinsol’s waiting for her to exit the bathroom in nothing but a towel so she can go shower.

 

“O—Oh,” Jungeun stammers, wrapping the towel around her chest. The towel is _just_ long enough to cover her body down to her upper thighs. She opens the door wider so she can exit and feels herself heating up as Jinsol smiles at her.

 

“Pick a movie you want to watch after I get out,” Jinsol says, squeezing past Jungeun’s body and then closing the bathroom door behind her.

 

Jungeun takes a moment to stand there, outside the bathroom, and leans her head on the wall.

 

She only snaps out of her daze when she hears the shower turn on.

 

-

 

The Lion King plays in the background as Jinsol and Jungeun play card games with each other.

 

“Aha!” Jinsol claps her hands excitedly after setting down her last card, “I win! Again!”

 

“No fair,” Jungeun shakes her head, gathering the cards and starting to shuffle them, “did you, like, _rig_ the cards or something?”

 

“Nope,” Jinsol replies gleefully.

 

Jungeun’s phone vibrates and she sees an incoming video call from Jiwoo.

 

She picks it up as Jinsol leans closer to get into the camera’s view.

 

“Jungie!” Jiwoo greets happily from the beach’s sandy shore, “It’s so pretty here! Look!”

 

There’s a moment where Jiwoo fumbles to switch the camera view, but once she does, she shows off the beach and the ocean.

 

“Look!” Jiwoo repeats.

 

“It _is_ pretty,” Jungeun agrees with a smile, “where are the others?”

 

“Vivi’s right _here_ ,” Jiwoo turns the camera onto the pink-haired girl laid down on a towel next to her. She looks like she’s sleeping. “And Sooyoung and Haseul are… _somewhere_. I don’t know.”

 

She flips the camera back to selfie-mode and grins at the two, “How’s your day been?”

 

“Jinsol tried to teach me to swim again and now we’re watching movies,” Jungeun replies.

 

“Also,” Jinsol takes the phone from Jungeun, “I’m beating Jungeun’s ass in War!”

 

“Not true!” Jungeun whines in defense, trying to grab her phone back. Jinsol keeps it out of her reach.

 

“That sounds like fun!” Jiwoo giggles, watching the scene with amused eyes, “I think I’m going to lay down and stop being so noisy so Vivi can sleep. I just wanted to show you guys the view!”

 

“Okay!” Jinsol replies with a wide smile, “Have fun!”

 

“Thanks! You, too!” Jiwoo waves before ending the call.

 

Jungeun’s still trying to reach for her phone, her entire body pressed against Jinsol’s as she whines.

 

“Oh, look! You’re missing Mufasa’s death scene,” Jinsol laughs loudly because Jungeun just squeals even louder, stretching her arm as far as she physically can.

 

With quick thinking, Jungeun suddenly jabs Jinsol’s waist. The blonde gasps, lowering her arm in order to cover her body from further attacks.

 

Jungeun takes the chance to snatch her phone back and she moves off of Jinsol’s lap, sticking her tongue out childishly.

 

“You’re going to regret that,” Jinsol narrows her eyes.

 

She slowly gets closer to Jungeun, who scoots backwards until her body collides with the armrest of the couch.

 

“Stay away!” Jungeun points a finger at Jinsol.

 

“Are you ticklish?” Jinsol tilts her head.

 

“No!”

 

“That sounds like a ‘yes’ to me,” Jinsol says before lunging and tickling Jungeun’s sides.

 

Jungeun literally _screams_ as Jinsol tickles her. She laughs until tears squeeze out from the corners of her eyes and tries to swat away Jinsol’s hands, but Jinsol’s a tough cookie and she keeps tickling Jungeun for a _while_.

 

When she finally _does_ back off, though, Jungeun’s out of breath and her hair’s completely disheveled.

 

Jinsol smiles at her and Jungeun just sneers, sitting up and fixing her hair as Jinsol giggles.

 

“You’re _really_ ticklish.”

 

“Yeah, I _know_.”

 

-

 

Jinsol and Jungeun are still on the couch together when the rest of the girls return to the cabin.

 

Jinsol’s currently knocked out, her head resting on a pillow just next to where Jungeun’s sat. No lights are on in the living room aside from the light given off by the TV.

 

Jungeun looks over when she hears the door open and watches as the girls walk in. She puts a finger to her lips, signalling for the others to be quiet before she points to Jinsol.

 

(It’s late, and it’s clear that the beach-crew is all worn out, so they weren’t going to make much noise even if Jungeun _hadn’t_ warned them.)

 

After mumbled greetings, they all head up the stairs to get ready for bed, but Jiwoo exaggeratedly tip-toes to Jungeun first.

 

She holds out a small bracelet made from red string.

 

“I bought you this at one of the cute little stores at the beach,” she whispers, “I know you’ve been wanting more bracelets.”

 

Jungeun smiles, feeling her heart warm up as she holds out her wrist and watches Jiwoo slip the bracelet onto her, “Thanks, Jiwoo.”

 

“No problem,” Jiwoo beams as Jungeun tightens the bracelet to her liking, “I’m going to go shower and then sleep. I’m _beat_.”

 

“I bet,” Jungeun replies, “I’ll be up in a minute.”

 

“Okay,” Jiwoo hums before turning to go up the stairs.

 

Once it’s just her and Jinsol, Jungeun takes the remote in her lap and shuts the TV off. She looks down at Jinsol, smiling at how peaceful the girl looks when she’s asleep. Jungeun doesn’t really want to have to wake her up, but she places a hand on Jinsol’s head and scratches the girl’s scalp.

 

“Jinsol,” she calls out gently, trying to ease her out of her slumber, “you should head back up to your room and sleep. The girls are back.”

 

Jinsol groans, eyes opening before fluttering close once again at the sensation of Jungeun massaging her head.

 

“Jinsol,” Jungeun calls again.

 

Jinsol hums, reaching up and lightly holding onto Jungeun’s wrist, “That feels nice.”

 

Jungeun lets out a small laugh of amusement and shakes her head. She goes to remove her hand, but Jinsol’s grip tightens.

 

“Don’t stop,” she murmurs sleepily.

 

“Jinsol, go to your _bed_ ,” Jungeun says.

 

“Later,” Jinsol grunts before mumbling out once more, “scratches, please.”

 

“Jeez,” Jungeun gives in, continuing to scratch Jinsol’s scalp, “you’re like a dog.”

 

“ _Woof_ ,” Jinsol lets out monotonously. Jungeun giggles.

 

And, even in the dark, Jungeun can see how Jinsol’s lips curve upwards at the noise.

 

**day three.**

 

Jungeun’s up early again, but she’s not by herself.

 

She’s still on the couch with Jinsol laid next to her (technically, Jungeun’s kind of laying _on top_ of Jinsol—but no one asked for technicalities).

 

There’s the pitter-patter of rain on the cabin’s windows, and the sun isn’t shining brightly like it had been yesterday morning.

 

Jungeun’s still trying to figure out how she’d gotten into this position when she feels Jinsol’s arm tighten around her waist. Her heartbeat immediately begins to pick up the pace.

 

Carefully, Jungeun detaches herself from Jinsol, slipping out from underneath the blanket— _wait who put the blanket there?_ —and walking into the kitchen.

 

She sits on the counter and sips a cup of water for a few minutes, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had definitely been sleeping with Jinsol, with her body resting _on top_ of the entire left side of Jinsol’s body. Jungeun blushes when she thinks about how warm Jinsol had been and how _comfy_ she was to lay on—

 

Jungeun shakes her head.

 

 _God_ , what is she thinking? Crushing on a girl she’d probably never see again in her life?

 

It’s only been _two_ days. Jungeun can’t possibly have already gained feelings for someone in _two_ days… right?

 

“Right,” Jungeun mumbles to herself determinedly, setting her cup down and hopping off the counter.

 

Jinsol may be pretty and kind and _funny_ , but she’s also only going to be in Jungeun’s life for five more days.

 

Jungeun’s here to _relax_ before college— _not_ to get her heart broken.

 

-

 

“Morning,” Vivi says as she walks down the stairs, sitting in the empty seat next to Jungeun. She’s the last to arrive at the table and she picks up a piece of bacon before nodding towards Jungeun and Jinsol, “By the way, how bad do your backs hurt from sleeping on the couch?”

 

“You slept on the couch?” Jiwoo blinks, surprised. She’d assumed that Jungeun had gone to bed after she fell asleep and that she’d gotten up before she did.

 

Vivi answers for Jungeun, “I was going to get some water before bed and saw these two knocked out on the couch,” she bites into the bacon strip, “I was _not_ going to be carrying them up to their rooms, so I just tossed a blanket onto them.”

 

“My back’s fine,” Jinsol shrugs, looking over to Jungeun, “how about you?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jungeun squeaks.

 

Jinsol looks pointedly at Vivi, “See? We’re fine.”

 

Vivi just shrugs, as if she couldn’t care less (she couldn’t),  and continues to eat breakfast.

 

Jungeun purposely avoids Jinsol’s eyes for the rest of their time at the table.

 

-

 

“So, what are the plans for today?” Jiwoo asks excitedly as all six of them tidy the kitchen.

 

“It’s supposed to rain all day today,” Haseul says, “I say we stay in and watch movies or play board games.”

 

“ _Or_ we can go swimming in the rain,” Vivi suggests, “we’re gonna be wet, anyway.”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Jiwoo agrees with a smile, “I spent more time yesterday playing in the sand than I did in the water!”

 

“That’s your fault, Jiwoo,” Jungeun says teasingly, “besides, it’s cold outside, you’re going to get sick.”

 

“Don’t be such a downer,” Vivi sneers, though there’s no true malice behind her words, “live a little!”

 

Jiwoo’s smile widens, “Yeah, Jungie! Live a little!”

 

Jungeun rolls her eyes and goes back to wiping down the table.

 

She feels someone hip-check her a couple seconds later, looking up to see Jinsol smiling at her.

 

“Hey,” she greets.

 

“Hi,” Jungeun replies shortly.

 

Jinsol tilts her head at this, “Are… you alright?”

 

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” Jungeun says, “why are you asking?”

 

She almost winces after asking the question.

 

 _She shouldn’t have asked the question_.

 

“I mean…” Jinsol gestures vaguely to Jungeun, “you seem a little... _awkward_.”

 

“I’m fine,” Jungeun shakes her head, “uhm… so what do you plan on doing today?”

 

The sudden topic change doesn’t go unnoticed by Jinsol, who raises an eyebrow at Jungeun.

 

“I was probably going to go out to swim with Vivi and Jiwoo,” she says, “how about you?”

 

“I’ll probably stay in,” Jungeun replies.

 

“You _want_ to third-wheel with the lovebirds?” Jinsol bumps her shoulder against Jungeun’s.

 

Jungeun scowls, “I’ll take third-wheeling over getting sick.”

 

“Whatever you _saaaay_ ,” Jinsol sing-songs before walking away.

 

-

 

Jungeun wants to leave.

 

She’s sat on the armchair by herself while Sooyoung and Haseul are _cuddling_ on the sofa next to her. Granted, Jungeun kind of put herself in the situation, and she’s sure that the couple is actually holding back on their touchiness for her sake, but— _still_.

 

It doesn’t help that they’re watching a _scary movie_.

 

(Jinsol’s not sat next to her, so Jungeun doesn’t even have anyone’s hand to hold…)

 

When they hear loud laughter from the girls who are swimming in the pond, they all turn their heads towards the cabin’s back door. Jungeun shifts, debating whether she should go out there or not.

 

There’s a squeal that’s definitely from Jiwoo, and Jungeun’s suddenly hit with guilt.

 

She’d come here to spend time with Jiwoo before they’re off to college and now she’s missing out because she’s trying to avoid Jinsol.

 

She huffs and moves the blanket off of her lap, “I’m going to go swimming,” she announces to the couple.

 

Haseul hums and Sooyoung waves to her.

 

-

 

“Jungie!” Jiwoo greets happily as Jungeun slides the screen door behind her close.

 

Jungeun shivers as she feels the rain start to hit her bare skin, “Jesus, it’s so cold,” she mumbles as she walks towards the water.

 

Vivi and Jinsol, who were dunking each other underwater, both pause when they realize Jungeun’s there.

 

Jinsol swims closer to the shore and smiles, “What happened to choosing third-wheeling over getting sick?”

 

Jungeun walks into the water, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering, “Shut up.”

 

Jinsol laughs and hurries closer. She grabs onto Jungeun’s hand in order to tug her further into the water, and it’s _cold_.

 

“How the hell are you guys swimming in this?” Jungeun asks in disbelief.

 

The rain pouring down on them isn’t helping, either.

 

“You get used to it,” Vivi says.

 

Jungeun shakes her head, the water now up to her chest, “I’m not getting used to it.”

 

Jinsol hums, “Dunk your head.”

 

“What?”

 

“Dunk,” Jinsol repeats.

 

Jiwoo swims closer, her hands placing themselves on Jungeun’s shoulders. As she does this, Jungeun’s hand slips out from Jinsol’s grasp.

 

Jinsol takes a step back and Jungeun stares wide-eyed at Jiwoo.

 

“What?” Jungeun asks.

 

“Hold your breath,” Jiwoo says, “I’m going to dunk you.”

 

“What? No you’re not— _Jiwoo!_ ”

 

She gets dunked.

 

And when she comes up out of the water, she’s already cursing Jiwoo out. Her best friend laughs loudly and swims away. Jiwoo swims over to Vivi, who starts splashing Jiwoo as soon as she sees her come closer.

 

Jungeun spits out whatever water is left in her mouth and moves her now-wet hair away from her face.

 

“They seem to be close,” Jinsol says with a smile, nodding over to Jiwoo and Vivi.

 

Jungeun hums, “Jiwoo’s got a talent for befriending people.”

 

“Is that _jealousy_ I hear?” Jinsol questions scandalously.

 

“What? _No_ ,” Jungeun replies, “Why would—”

 

“I was kidding,” Jinsol says with a small smile.

 

“Oh,” Jungeun mumbles.

 

They stand in the water awkwardly for a couple of moments, until Jinsol takes Jungeun’s hand in hers.

 

“Let’s float,” she says.

 

“Pardon?” Jungeun replies.

 

Jinsol moves so she’s on her back, facing upwards. Jungeun’s still standing there, holding onto Jinsol’s hands and examining the girl’s face. She’s closed her eyes to protect herself from the falling raindrops so she’s not aware of Jungeun’s staring.

 

Jungeun feels her heart skip a beat at just how beautiful the blonde is.

 

…

 

“Are you not going to float?” Jinsol asks, eyes still closed.

 

…

 

Jungeun lets go of Jinsol’s hand.

 

_She came out here to spend time with Jiwoo._

 

“Actually I… I kind of want to go join in on whatever those two are doing,” she says, looking over to the splash battle happening.

 

Jinsol barely moves, “Okay.”

 

Jungeun wades over to where Jiwoo and Vivi are, trying not to pay too much attention to the sinking feeling in her stomach.

  
  
  
  


It’s easy to forget about that feeling when she’s suddenly _thrust_ into a splash war, though.

 

-

 

The three of them continue to splash each other and dunk each other underneath the water for about an hour before they start to tire out. Vivi resorts to sitting in the shallow-end and watching Jiwoo pretend to waterbend.

 

Jungeun finds herself looking around for Jinsol.

 

Jinsol’s not in the water anymore, but she’s sat on the patio steps with a towel wrapped around her shoulders. She’s not looking in the direction of the girls, she doesn’t really appear to be staring at anything in particular either.

 

Jungeun’s snapped out of her staring when Jiwoo jumps onto her back and ends up knocking _both_ of them into the water.

 

“Kim Jiwoo!” Jungeun shrieks after they resurface.

 

Jiwoo scream-laughs at all the splashing Jungeun’s doing and returns the attacks with all her might.

 

“Okay! _Truce_!” Jiwoo shouts after a couple of minutes, “Truce!”

 

Jungeun gives her one last splash and then huffs.

 

It’s then that a rumble of thunder sounds.

 

Vivi whistles lowly, “Looks like we gotta go inside now.”

 

Jiwoo pouts, “Stupid thunder.”

 

She takes Jungeun’s hand in hers and they walk out of the water together. Jinsol stands from the steps as they near, her eyes glancing quickly towards Jiwoo and Jungeun’s interlocked hands.

 

She smiles, “Sooyoung and Haseul were kind of… making out earlier, so I didn’t want to disturb them.”

 

Vivi laughs, “Do you think we’re going to walk in on them having—”

 

The screen door slides open and they all look up to see Sooyoung waving them in.

 

“Get in, you fools,” she calls, “before you all get struck by lightning.”

 

-

 

Jinsol’s bundled up in an oversized sweater when she joins the rest of the girls in the living room.

 

“We’re playing Monopoly,” Jiwoo states before holding up the little purse character, “do you want to be the purse?”

 

“No thanks,” Jinsol laughs, sitting down next to Jungeun. Jungeun holds her breath to keep herself from inhaling Jinsol’s scent, “I’ll just watch for now.”

 

Jinsol then notices the lack of Monopoly cash in front of Jungeun, “Are you not playing?”

 

“I don’t like Monopoly,” Jungeun replies.

 

“It’s because she sucks at it,” Jiwoo exposes her.

 

“First War and now Monopoly?” Jinsol’s smile grows, “You seem to suck at games, Jungeun.”

 

“She’s the worst!” Jiwoo says.

 

“ _Alright_ ,” Jungeun huffs.

 

-

 

The rain stops around the same time the girls finish eating dinner.

 

Jungeun watches as Jinsol walks over to the back door, opening it before closing it behind her.

 

No one else seems to have noticed Jinsol leaving.

 

Jungeun follows Jinsol, telling herself that it’s dark out and _who knows what scary animal could be out there at this time?_

 

She doesn’t want to leave Jinsol alone.

 

_It’s a safety hazard._

 

When Jungeun slides the door shut behind her, she spots Jinsol’s figure sat down on the small sandy shore in front of the pond.

 

Jungeun approaches, wrapping her arms around herself because it’s chillier than it had been earlier.

 

Jinsol looks behind her when she hears footsteps. She gives a small smile to Jungeun, “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” Jungeun responds, going to sit down besides Jinsol on the wet sand, “mind if I ask what you’re doing out here?”

 

Jinsol shrugs, staring out at the pond, “I like the smell after it rains.”

 

Jungeun stares down at the sand, “Any particular reason why?”

 

Jinsol hums, “It reminds me of my childhood.”

 

Unsure what to say to that, Jungeun opts to just stay silent.

 

For a few minutes they sit next to each other, listening to water droplets fall from trees and to the crickets chirping.

 

Jungeun shivers when a gust of wind comes by. Jinsol turns her head.

 

“You’re cold,” she says, frowning, “you don’t have to be out here with me, you know? You can go back inside.”

 

“I didn’t want to leave you alone,” Jungeun responds, “I’m fine.”

 

Jinsol continues to stare at her, seeming to contemplate her next actions.

 

She pulls her hoodie over her head and hands it to Jungeun, “You need it more than I do.”

 

Jungeun’s eyes widen as she takes the hoodie. She hesitates before slipping it on. Suddenly she’s engulfed in Jinsol’s scent.

 

(And she hates that she kind of loves it.)

 

Jinsol takes the strings of the hoodie and tightens it so the hood squeezes around Jungeun’s head. Jungeun whines, trying to smack Jinsol’s hands away.

 

They both end up laughing into the silence of the night.

 

When Jinsol stops bothering Jungeun, Jungeun removes the hood off of her and fixes her hair.

 

“I don’t like hoods,” Jungeun grumbles.

 

Jinsol smiles, “I like the stars.”

 

Jungeun gives her a confused look, “There was _no_ correlation to what I just said and what you just said.”

 

Jinsol shrugs, “You always talk about the things you _don’t_ like,” she points out with a quiet chuckle.

 

“No, I don’t…”

 

“You don’t like the beach, you don’t like Monopoly, and _now_ you don’t like hoods,” Jinsol lists off, “So, for every time you say you don’t like something, I’ll counter it with a like of my own.”

 

“You’re so…” Jungeun trails off.

 

“Amazing?” Jinsol answers for her.

 

“ _Weird_ ,” Jungeun laughs, “but, sure—that, too.”

 

Jinsol laughs before she bites her lip and looks away.

 

There’s something off about the way she’d stopped laughing; like she’d thought about something and felt guilty about it.

 

“What?” Jungeun asks quietly.

 

Jinsol shakes her head, “Nothing.”

 

Jungeun debates on whether to prod.

 

“It’s nothing, Jungeun,” Jinsol reassures her, though she still isn’t making eye contact with her.

 

Suddenly, Jinsol’s standing up, “let’s go back inside.”

 

“Wh—” Jungeun looks up at the girl, “Jinsol?”

 

And either Jinsol doesn’t hear Jungeun or she completely ignores her, because she continues walking to the cabin.

 

She leaves the door open for Jungeun to enter, but Jungeun’s still sat on the shore, trying to register what the hell had just happened.

 

**day four.**

 

Jungeun hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.

 

It’s pathetic, really—to be so stressed out over a girl she’d _just_ met—but she’s worried.

 

Sure: maybe avoiding Jinsol hadn’t been the _best_ way to deal with things, considering they’re stuck in the same house for the remainder of the week, but Jungeun’s not very good at problem-solving.

 

When she wakes up and quietly leaves her shared-room with Jiwoo, she’s greeted by the low-volume of the TV playing in the living room.

 

She quickly freshens up in the bathroom before checking to see who’s down there.

 

And, of course, it’s Jinsol.

 

She looks at Jungeun just as Jungeun steps down the last step of the stairs.

 

“Hi,” Jungeun says.

 

Jinsol’s eyes lower, scanning Jungeun from top-to-bottom, and then she smiles, “You’re still wearing my sweater.”

 

“Your sweater—?” Jungeun looks down at herself and— _yup_. She’s still wearing Jinsol’s sweater, “Oh. Yeah, I guess I am.”

 

She tugs it over her head, walking towards the couch after pulling it off of her, “Here.”

 

Jinsol takes it back and nods.

 

Jungeun looks up at the TV to see what Jinsol’s watching.

 

She’s tuned into Animal Planet.

 

“I like watching documentaries,” Jinsol says.

 

“I didn’t say that I didn’t like anything,” Jungeun replies, looking towards Jinsol.

 

“I thought I’d switch it up a bit,” Jinsol grins playfully, scrunching up her nose.

 

Any coherent thought that Jungeun has is tossed out the window.

 

“I…”

 

Jinsol nods towards the couch, “Wanna watch with me?”

 

“Uhm…”

 

Jungeun’s eyes wander the room, as if she could find something to get her away from the situation.

 

She looks towards the kitchen. And then back towards the stairs.

 

The smile on Jinsol’s lips deflates slightly at Jungeun’s hesitation.

 

Jinsol looks away from Jungeun and back towards the TV, mumbling something under her breath as she places the hoodie in her lap.

 

“What?” Jungeun asks.

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Jinsol replies, folding the hoodie to keep her hands busy. She’s just mumbling her words at this point, nothing like the way she’d talked to Jungeun a couple of days ago.

 

“I—I could’ve sworn I heard you say something,” Jungeun presses onwards.

 

She joins Jinsol on the couch after the girl doesn’t reply.

 

“Jinsol?”

 

“...” Jinsol keeps her gaze on the TV screen when she says her next words, “I said ‘or you can go back to avoiding me’.”

 

Jungeun’s eyes widen, “What…?”

 

“It was pretty obvious,” Jinsol fiddles with the hoodie’s strings as she keeps talking, “if that’s what you want then I won’t stop you, I just don’t know if it’s because I did something wrong or—”

 

“You didn’t,” Jungeun cuts her off, “you didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

“Oh,” Jinsol replies, nodding, “that’s… good to know.”

 

The following silence causes Jungeun’s nervousness to increase tenfold. Jinsol turns her head, staring at Jungeun.

 

“Can I ask _why_ you were avoiding me?” Jinsol questions carefully.

 

“Uhm…”

 

A couple of voices can be heard coming down the stairs, and that immediately shuts the two girls up. They both turn to look at the TV as if they hadn’t been staring into each other’s eyes a few seconds ago.

 

Sooyoung and Haseul say their ‘good morning’s to Jinsol and Jungeun, completely unaware of the awkward tension between them.

 

Jungeun clears her throat and gets up from the couch, “Hey,” she says to them.

 

“Do you guys want to go to the park today?” Sooyoung asks as she opens up the fridge and peeks into it, “Vivi was talking about the place she and Jinsol had parked at. We should head there.”

 

“You want to walk there?” Jinsol questions.

 

“Yeah,” Haseul answers for her girlfriend, “didn’t you and Jungeun walk there the other day? How was it?”

 

“It was alright,” Jinsol says, “you just have to be careful not to trip.”

 

Sooyoung closes the fridge door, carton of milk in her hand, “We’ll be fine, then. We can go later today, maybe pack lunch to bring. Jungeun, do you want cereal?”

 

“Yes, please,” Jungeun says, sliding into the seat at the counter and watching Sooyoung pull out two bowls.

 

-

 

“Vivi and Jinsol, lead the way,” Haseul smiles.

 

They’re all gathered on the patio, ready to head off for their day at the park.

 

Jiwoo loops her arm through Jungeun’s excitedly.

 

“I hope there are cute dogs there,” she says once they’ve started walking through the forest. Jinsol’s just ahead of them, with Vivi even further ahead. Haseul and Sooyoung are behind them, talking about who-knows-what.

 

“It’s a _park_ , Jiwoo. I’m sure there are going to be dogs there,” Jungeun says.

 

“I hope they’re big dogs…”

 

Jinsol, who overhears this, laughs and turns around, “What about small dogs?”

 

Jiwoo hugs Jungeun’s arm closer to her body, “I’m scared of small dogs.”

 

Jinsol’s pleasantly amused at this, because she lets out another chuckle before she turns back around.

 

Jungeun tries to ignore the fact that she’s the one who’s keeping Jiwoo from tripping onto her face when, a couple of days ago, it was _her_ who was being kept from falling.

 

(She also ignores how different Jiwoo’s hand feels in hers compared to Jinsol’s.)

 

-

 

After setting up their blankets and putting their bags down, Sooyoung stretches, letting out a hum as she does so. The park is large, and there aren't many people there, but there are enough to not make the place feel dead.

 

“Dog!” Jiwoo says gleefully, taking hold of Jungeun’s hand and then dragging her over to a golden retriever running across the grass field.

 

The dog hears Jiwoo's excited squeals and ends up running straight towards them, a tennis ball in its mouth.

 

Jiwoo kneels down and allows the dog to quite literally jump onto her. Jungeun watches with a smile, also bending down to pet the dog. The dog’s owner jogs over to them, calling the dog off and apologizing to Jiwoo.

 

“It’s okay!” Jiwoo giggles, still getting licked by the dog.

 

After a couple of minutes of the two petting the dog and making small talk with its owner, they hear Vivi calling for them and so they say their goodbye’s. Jiwoo walks back happily, telling Junguen to hurry up as she skips back to the group.

 

“Here’s the plan,” Vivi says once Jungeun’s in hearing-range, “Jinsol’s going to stay here and guard our stuff because she’s a loser—”

 

“I said I was _tired_ —”

 

“Right. Like I said: a _loser_ ,” Vivi nods towards Jinsol and then turns back to the group, “and _we_ are going to walk on the park’s hiking trail.”

 

Jiwoo pouts towards Jinsol, “Are you sure you want to stay here by yourself?”

 

“I’ll be fine,” Jinsol smiles. Her eyes flicker towards Jungeun before returning to Jiwoo, “you girls go hike.”

 

Jungeun contemplates making up an excuse for her to stay with Jinsol, to stay so they can finish their conversation from that morning—but then she’s struck with fear of actually having that conversation.

 

Fortunately for her, Jiwoo takes her hand again.

 

“If you say so,” Jiwoo hums, “we’ll be back before you know it!”

 

-

 

And when they do return, they spot three unfamiliar girls sitting with Jinsol at their blanket.

 

“Hey, Jinsol and… friends,” Sooyoung greets, quirking an eyebrow.

 

Jungeun eyes the three girls, a bit surprised at how attractive they all are.

 

“Hey,” Jinsol smiles, “this is Momo, Mina, and Sana. They’re visiting from Japan.”

 

The girls being introduced all wave towards the group.

 

Jungeun sits down with the others as more introductions take place. Jiwoo takes it upon herself to introduce both her and Jungeun.

 

When Sooyoung introduces Haseul as her girlfriend, the girl named Sana’s eyes seem to light up.

 

She points to Momo, “She’s my girlfriend.”

 

“Ah,” Haseul grins, “cute couple.”

 

“You, too!” Sana smiles widely.

 

Jiwoo pouts, “This makes me miss Heejin…”

 

Jungeun laughs lightly as she feels Jiwoo’s head on her shoulder, “You _always_ miss Heejin.”

 

“Heejin is…?” Momo asks.

 

“ _My_ girlfriend,” Jiwoo answers, smiling just at the thought of her.

 

Sana blinks, looking around, “Do you _all_ have girlfriends?”

 

Her gaze settles on Jinsol in particular, who shakes her head.

 

“I’m single, Vivi’s single, and Jungeun’s single,” she says.

 

Vivi shrugs, “I like being single. Don’t you, Jinsol?”

 

Jinsol rolls her eyes, “No.”

 

Jungeun doesn’t say anything, because Momo says something in Japanese to Mina, and Mina’s cheeks turn a pretty pink color before she smacks Momo’s arm. With the way her eyes flutter towards Jinsol and then back down at her lap, it’s pretty clear what/ _who_ they’re talking about.

 

Jungeun feels her stomach churn.

 

Vivi smirks, clearly having caught on as well, “Mina, what about you?”

 

“Huh?” Mina asks, suddenly put in the spotlight, “No, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

 

“Interesting…” Vivi trails off.

 

Jinsol clears her throat, “Do you guys want to play volleyball? I brought a ball.”

 

“Sure!” Jiwoo jumps up (and drags Jungeun up as well).

 

“Jiwoo, we don’t know _how_ to play volleyball,” Jungeun hisses.

 

Jiwoo waves her off, “Heejin taught me some stuff! We’ll be fine!”

 

“I call Jinsol on my team,” Vivi announces as they walk towards the already-set up volleyball net.

 

“Has Jinsol played volleyball before?” Sana asks.

 

“She was captain,” Vivi replies.

 

“ _Oooh_ ,” Momo grins, nudging Mina, who shoves her away.

 

“Momo and Mina can be on the other team with me,” Sana says, “we played on a team before.”

 

“I’ll be scorekeeper,” Haseul stands off to the side, “so you’ll have even teams.”

 

“Jungeun, join us,” Sana waves Jungeun over.

 

Jungeun looks over to Jiwoo, who nods at her happily. Jungeun walks over to the side with the Japanese girls and gives them a sheepish smile.

 

“I don’t know how to play at all,” she says.

 

“That’s okay,” Momo replies encouragingly, “we’ll help you!”

 

“Okay,” Jungeun says, though she’s still nervous. She’s gotten hit by a volleyball many times in gym class before. They _hurt_.

 

“Ready?” Jinsol calls from the other side.

 

“Yeah!” Sana gives her a thumbs-up.

 

-

 

For the majority of their game, Jungeun just squeaks and jumps out of the way when the ball heads towards her.

 

Jiwoo laughs at her every time, and she even catches Jinsol chuckling.

 

“Let’s switch up the teams!” Sana announces suddenly, “Mina and Jiwoo, switch!”

 

“Wh—” Mina looks at her friend in disbelief.

 

Sana’s eyes are practically twinkling with mischief.

 

Jungeun looks away.

 

“Haseul, switch?” she calls to the girl sitting off on the side, “I’m tired.”

 

“You barely did anything!” Vivi points out.

 

Jungeun glares at her, “Running away from the ball counts as _something_.”

 

Haseul laughs and gets up, “Sure.”

 

-

 

Jungeun’s seething.

 

Mostly because Jinsol and Mina work _really_ well together. They high-five each other every time they successfully pass the ball to each other and laugh together whenever something funny happens.

 

And it makes Jungeun angry.

 

Obviously, she knows _why_ she’s angry. She’s jealous. But she’s also angry _because_ of the fact that she’s jealous.

 

Why is she so jealous over Mina when Jinsol’s not even her girlfriend? Also, why is she so affected over someone she’d just met?

 

_Feelings are stupid._

 

Sometime during the game, Jungeun gets up and heads back over to their blanket because there’s no need for a scorekeeper considering they aren’t even keeping score anymore.

 

She sits down and sips on her water bottle, looking anywhere but at the volleyball game going on.

 

It’s not long until the game’s over and the girls are all chatting and laughing as they make their way over to Jungeun. Jungeun can’t help but notice how Jinsol and Mina are a little detached from the rest of the group, talking in the back.

 

She gets up, mutters something about heading to the bathroom to Haseul, and then walks away.

 

-

 

Jungeun’s sat on the grass, leaning behind on a tree, when she hears footsteps approaching.

 

“There are no bathrooms here,” Jinsol says.

 

“I know,” Jungeun replies.

 

Jinsol lowers herself to the ground, sitting down and leaning on the same tree that Jungeun’s leaning on.

 

“Are you alright?” Jinsol asks from Jungeun’s adjacent side.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun answers, “I’m just tired.”

 

“Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night?”

 

“No,” Jungeun says.

 

“Yeah, me neither,” Jinsol says quietly. She shifts, turning her head to the side so Jungeun can hear her, but neither of the girls are looking at each other. Jungeun keeps her gaze settled on her lap.

 

“I’m sorry for cornering you this morning,” she whispers, “and for ditching you so suddenly last night.”

 

The sudden apology makes Jungeun’s eyes snap up. She turns her head and stares at Jinsol’s side-profile in surprise, “What are you—”

 

“Clearly you don’t want to talk about whatever’s happening between us and it wasn’t fair of me to try to force you to.”

 

“Jinsol…” Jungeun trails off, “I—I don’t… I don’t even know _what’s_ happening between us.”

 

Jinsol finally looks up to meet her eyes. She shrugs, “I like you.”

 

“H—How do you like me? You barely even know me,” Jungeun stammers, voicing out her own internal struggles at the concept of her liking Jinsol.

 

Jinsol looks away at this reply, a sad smile on her lips.

 

She shakes her head, “Okay.”

 

Jungeun’s eyebrows knit together at this in confusion, “What do you mean by ‘okay’?”

 

“If you don’t want this, then I won’t try anything,” Jinsol says.

 

“We leave in three days,” Jungeun points out.

 

Jinsol nods, “Okay.”

 

The short reply makes the uneasiness in Jungeun’s stomach ten times worse.

 

“Is all you’re going to say just ‘okay’?”

 

“I don’t know what else to say,” Jinsol mutters, a bit of frustration seeping through her words.

 

She starts to stand up, “the girls are looking for us, though. Mina, Momo, and Sana might come back with us to the cabin for movie-night.”

 

Jungeun frowns as she stands as well, “They are?”

 

Jinsol eyes her for a moment, and then lets out a sigh.

 

“What?” Jungeun asks, watching Jinsol turn on her heel.

 

She jogs to catch up with the blonde and asks once more, “ _What_?”

 

“You can’t _do that_ ,” Jinsol stops in her tracks, turning to face Jungeun.

 

“Can’t do _what_?”

 

“You can’t get jealous over me being with Mina when you—” Jinsol pauses, taking a deep breath and lowering her voice because she’d started to get loud, “you can’t get jealous when you aren’t even going to _try_ being with me.”

 

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Jungeun replies even though they both know it’s a damn lie.

 

Jinsol scoffs.

 

She nods again, “Okay.”

 

That one word hurts Jungeun a lot more than it should.

 

The two of them stand there as Jungeun tries to conjure up an apology, tries to fix together some coherent explanation for the way she’s been acting—but her brain’s much too muddled and filled to the brim with thoughts that it makes thinking almost impossible to do.

 

Jinsol starts walking away, and Jungeun finds herself filled with panic.

 

She stammers out the first thought that comes into her head because Jinsol’s about to leave her and she doesn’t want that.

 

“ _I’ve never had a girlfriend_!” Jungeun exclaims into the forest.

 

Jinsol freezes.

 

…

 

Jinsol turns around, staring at Jungeun with a slight frown on her lips.

 

Jungeun lowers her voice, seeing as she’s gotten Jinsol’s full attention now, “I—I’ve… I’ve never even _liked_ anyone besides Jiwoo.”

 

“Never?” Jinsol asks.

 

Jungeun feels her heart jump up to her throat.

 

“Well… Until—until _now_ ,” she confesses meekly.

 

“Ah…” Jinsol nods, trailing off.

 

Her eyes have widen slightly, but she doesn’t seem _too_ surprised at the confession.

 

(Pretty sure it’s clear to anyone within a twenty mile radius that the two girls have feelings for each other.)

 

Jungeun keeps talking, not wanting to give Jinsol another reason to walk away, “I’m just scared, especially since we’re only going to be here for three more days, and then I have to worry about college and moving into dorms and being away from my family and from Jiwoo and—”

 

“ _Jungeun_ ,” Jinsol hurries forward, placing her hands on Jungeun’s shoulders and squeezing gently, “ _Relax_.”

 

Jungeun’s face flames up and she nods.

 

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

 

“It’s not fair to you for me to be so scared, and I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know how to… _deal_ with all of this,” Jungeun opens her eyes, finding the familiar stinging sensation of incoming tears growing, “please don’t hate me.”

 

“What?” Jinsol frowns, “Jungeun, I don’t hate you… not in the slightest bit.”

 

“But I’ve been such a _child_ —”

 

“ _Hey_ ,” Jinsol says firmly, “I don’t hate you.”

 

Jungeun sniffles, nodding.

 

Jinsol gives her an encouraging smile, her thumbs caressing Jungeun’s cheeks, “We can talk more later, okay?”

 

Jungeun lets out a shaky breath as she blinks rapidly, “Okay.”

 

They stand there for a few seconds as Jungeun calms herself down, aided by Jinsol’s soft and comforting touch.

 

…

 

“Jungeun,”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Guess what?”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re really cute.”

 

Letting out a whine, Jungeun pushes Jinsol away embarrassedly.

 

She turns around and starts walking back to the group.

 

She hears Jinsol laugh loudly from behind, running to catch up to Jungeun.

 

“Hey, _wait—!_ ”

 

-

 

Movie night with Mina, Momo, and Sana doesn’t go as bad as Jungeun thought it would’ve.

 

(Well, seeing as Jinsol’s holding _her_ hand and not Mina’s—Jungeun’s pretty content with how things are.)

 

They watch a comedy movie that Jungeun finds slightly entertaining (at best).

 

…

 

Actually, Jungeun doesn’t think the movie’s funny at all. She thinks the jokes are all way too corny and forced, but hearing Jinsol giggle and feeling her body shake with laughter makes up for the lackluster film.

 

When the Japanese girls depart, they hug each and every girl good-bye.

 

As Mina’s arms wrap around Jungeun’s shoulders, she whispers into her ear, “Good luck,” and pulls away with a friendly smile on her lips.

Jungeun’s face burns and she mumbles out a ‘thanks’ before watching Haseul hug her.

 

After exchanging numbers, the girls leave and everyone starts heading up to their rooms. Jungeun takes it upon herself to tidy up the living room, tossing strewn pillows on the ground back onto the couch and folding the blankets.

 

She almost screams when she feels a hand on her hip, but immediately relaxes when she realizes it’s Jinsol.

 

“Let’s talk?” Jinsol suggests carefully.

 

Jungeun’s eyes flicker over to the staircase, where she can hear Jiwoo’s voice and Vivi’s tired chuckles, before she looks back over to Jinsol and nods.

 

Jinsol takes hold of her hand, grabs the folded sweater that she’d kept on the couch from earlier that morning, and guides Jungeun to the back-door.

 

They return to the spot that they had been at the other night, where Jinsol had come out to after the rain had stopped.

 

Jinsol stuffs Jungeun’s head through the hoodie and helps the girl put it on. They both giggle at their struggle as Jinsol takes hold of Jungeun’s hand once again. She sits down, pulling Jungeun down with her.

 

Jinsol tugs Jungeun’s hand into her lap, playing with the bracelet on Jungeun’s wrist (the one that Jiwoo had bought her).

 

“I… I just want to start off by saying I’m not going to try anything you aren’t comfortable with,” Jinsol says as she looks up, eyes scanning Jungeun’s face, “and if the fact that we’re only going to be here for a couple more days _really_ bothers you, then I’ll back off.”

 

_She’s going right into it, huh?_

 

Jungeun bites her lip nervously, “I mean… what would happen after we leave the cabin?”

 

Jinsol shrugs, “Whatever you want to happen.”

 

Jungeun frowns, “Jinsol, that—that doesn’t help—I don’t _know_ what I want…”

 

“That’s okay,” Jinsol assures her, squeezing her hand, but it only manages to make Jungeun feel more anxious.

 

Jungeun exhales shakily, “What about you? What do _you_ want?”

 

Jinsol’s gaze turns towards the pond, “I—”

 

“And _don’t_ say you want whatever I want.”

 

Jinsol scoffs, turning her head to narrow her eyes at Jungeun playfully, “That _wasn’t_ what I was going to say.”

 

Jungeun gives a small smile, nudging Jinsol’s shoulder with her own to signal for her to keep talking.

 

Jinsol lets out a huff of air, shoulders slumping slightly.

 

“I want to get to know you,” Jinsol says quietly, “even _after_ this vacation is over.”

 

“B—But I’m going to be going to college, and you’re going to be going _back_ to college,” Jungeun points out, “it’d be long-distance.”

 

…

 

“It wouldn’t be _too_ far of a distance,” Jinsol mutters, though she says it more to herself.

 

Jungeun can feel Jinsol’s grip on her hand loosen, and it makes her heart skip a beat.

 

…

 

“I—”

 

“Do you actually even like me, Jungeun?” Jinsol asks, voice barely above a whisper.

 

The vulnerable look that she gives Jungeun causes Jungeun’s heart to tighten.

 

“Yes,” Jungeun replies, shocked, “why are you asking that?”

 

“Because it doesn’t seem like you’re willing to try for me,” Jinsol says, not angrily—more sad than anything else, “it’s like… I don’t know. It’s like you’re just trying to find ways to get me to change my mind about wanting to be with you.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Jungeun apologizes without having to think twice, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off that way. I _do_ like you, I’m just… I’m—”

 

“Scared,” Jinsol answers for her.

 

Jungeun gulps, nodding.

 

“Yeah…” she trails off.

 

Jinsol hums and then they drift into a short period of silence, each wrapped up in their own thoughts of how to continue this conversation.

 

…

 

“I know this is scary to you,” Jinsol finally says in a small voice, “but it’s scary for me, too.”

 

“How so?” Jungeun asks gently.

 

“Well… My last relationship didn’t end very well, and it took me a while to move on,” Jinsol admits, “I just don’t want to try this if you’re not one-hundred percent about being with me.”

 

Jinsol seems to be having second-thoughts, because Jungeun can see a range of emotions flicker across her face like some sort of slide-show. The last emotion, the emotion that _stays_ , is defeat.

 

“Besides…” Jinsol’s brows are furrowed together and she shakes her head, “a long-distance relationship is hard even _without_ it being your first relationship.”

 

“So… what are you saying?” Jungeun questions nervously.

 

“The way I see it, we have three options,” Jinsol says.

 

“What are the options?”

 

“One: we do nothing and move on after this week, two: we get together now and end it after this week, or three: we get together now and continue dating even after this week ends.”

 

Jungeun tenses up, “Can we throw the first option out?”

 

Jinsol lets out a chuckle, “I like that idea.”

 

She pauses, tightens her hold on Jungeun’s hand, “What do you want, then?”

 

“I don’t know,” Jungeun shakes her head, “but I do know that I like you—and that you like me back… I don’t want to do _nothing_.”

 

Jinsol smiles, nodding, “Do you just… want to make the most of our remaining days together?”

 

“God, way to make us sound like we’re a on a strict deadline…”

 

“Well, if we’re going with option two, we _are_ on a strict deadline,” Jinsol points out.

 

Jungeun lets out a whine and cuddles closer, leaning her head on Jinsol’s shoulder. Jinsol laughs lightly, bringing Jungeun’s hand up to her lips and pressing a soft kiss to her knuckle.

 

“Whatever you want, I’m down for,” she whispers, lips brushing against Jungeun’s skin.

 

Jungeun looks up from her spot on Jinsol’s shoulder, her stomach doing all kinds of flips and somersaults.

 

When Jinsol places another kiss on Jungeun’s palm, something inside of Jungeun snaps.

 

In a newfound burst of courage, Jungeun moves her hand out of the blonde’s grip and settles it on the side of Jinsol’s neck. After a sharp inhale from Jinsol, Jungeun pulls the girl’s face towards her.

 

They both lean in at the same time, eyes closing in sync and then lips meeting in a chaste kiss.

 

Jinsol moves away first, barely tilting her head away and disconnecting their lips. She feels the pad of Jungeun’s thumb trail the underside of her jawline, so sure that Jungeun can feel her rapid pulse beating beneath her palm.

 

Her eyes are still closed when Jungeun opens hers. Their foreheads are pressed together, with Jinsol’s hand settled in the curve of Jungeun’s waist. Jungeun’s fingers tighten across the sensitive skin of Jinsol’s neck, and their lips find each other’s once more.

 

Jungeun feels a swooping sensation in her stomach as their second kiss becomes much longer and more heated than their first.

 

Jinsol pushes forward and Jungeun uses her right hand to keep herself sitting up, pressing her palm into the cold sand as Jinsol’s other hand comes up to cup her cheek.

 

They kiss for a few more seconds and Jungeun feels her head start to pound at the same pace as her heartbeat, feeling like she’s overheating (no thanks to Jinsol’s body being so close to her).

 

When Jungeun feels a slight nibble on her lower lip, she gasps.

 

Jinsol backs off instantly.

 

“Sorry, was that too much?” she asks breathlessly, eyeing Jungeun worriedly.

 

Jungeun’s racing heart flips as the concern in Jinsol’s gaze. She leans in again, catching Jinsol’s lips in another kiss.

 

And another.

 

And another.

 

She pulls back after what had to have been the sixth peck and locks eyes with Jinsol.

 

“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” Jungeun admits.

 

Jinsol’s eyes widen almost comically, whispering out a surprised, “ _What_?!”

 

Jungeun smiles, “Yeah,” she says quietly, cheeks burning.

 

“Gosh,” Jinsol nudges her nose against Jungeun’s, “you’re a pretty fast learner, then.”

 

This brings out a giggle from Jungeun and a goofy smile from Jinsol, the two girls feeling like they’re on cloud nine.

 

Jinsol crinkles her nose, “Wanna learn some more?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

 

A louder laugh erupts from Jungeun, and she pushes Jinsol away, “I don’t like you!” she laughs.

 

“Hmm… what a shame…” Jinsol wraps her arm around Jungeun’s shoulders and pulls her close, nuzzling her nose against Jungeun’s temple, “because _I_ like _you_.”

 

Jungeun’s not sure she’s ever felt so cozy and warm inside, but she finds herself starting to become addicted to the feeling.

 

She leans into Jinsol, closing her eyes as she rests her head on Jinsol’s shoulder.

 

Whatever option they end up choosing, Jungeun thinks she’ll be okay.

 

As long as she can spend these next two days making precious memories with Jinsol, she’ll be okay.

 

(She hopes.)

 

-

 

Walking into her shared bedroom with Jiwoo, Jungeun blinks when she sees Jiwoo wide-awake, sitting on the bottom-bunk.

 

“Jiwoo, I thought you went to sleep?”

 

Jiwoo’s bottom lip is jutted outwards in a pout. Her arms are crossed over her chest, like she’s angry at Jungeun. Jungeun briefly wonders how long she’s been sitting like that, waiting for her to come back.

 

“How come you never told me you were dating Jinsol?”

 

Jungeun’s eyes widen, and then she quickly closes the door behind her. Within seconds, she’s rushing forward and looking at Jiwoo in shock, “Wh—Why do you say that?”

 

Jiwoo points to the window in their room, “I saw you two kissing.”

 

“It’s—” Jungeun struggles to explain the situation.

 

“Do you not trust me?” Jiwoo asks.

 

“No!” Jungeun yelps, sitting besides Jiwoo, “That’s not it at all, Jiwoo—it’s just… this is a new thing. A _very_ new thing. Like, _tonight_ -new...”

 

Jiwoo waits for Jungeun to continue talking.

 

“And… and I don’t know if it’s considered _dating_... We… we haven’t figured out what we’re going to do when this week ends.”

 

Jiwoo’s frown deepens, “But you like her?”

 

“Yes,” Jungeun nods.

 

“And she likes you?”

 

Another nod.

 

Jiwoo’s confusion triples, “Well, what’s the problem, then?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You two like each other. That’s that,” Jiwoo points out, “you date, and you _continue_ dating after this week ends… that’s kind of how dating works; two people like each other.”

 

“It’s not that simple—”

 

“It _is_ —”

 

“No, it’d be long-distance—”

 

“Heejin and I are going to be long-distance, too,” Jiwoo points out, “but she and I like each other enough to be willing to fight through the distance. She’s still going to be my girlfriend whether we’re miles apart or close together.”

 

Jungeun’s rendered silent.

 

She looks down at her lap and fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist.

 

Jiwoo sighs, noticing the worry on her best friend’s face, and grabs hold of Jungeun’s hand, “What is it?”

 

Jungeun shrugs, “I came on this vacation to spend time with you before we go to college, not to find a girlfriend and spend all my time with _her_. I… I don’t know, I just don’t want you to feel tossed to the side.”

 

“Tossed to the side…?” Jiwoo frowns, “Wait…  is that how you felt when I started to date Heejin?”

 

Jungeun shrugs again, weaker this time.

 

Jiwoo pulls Jungeun closer, guilt immediately eating at her as she hugs Jungeun, “Jungie! I’m so sorry!”

 

“ _Ack—!_ ” Jungeun chokes out, “it’s fine, Jiwoo— _Jiwoo, you’re choking me_ —”

 

“I _deserve_ to be tossed to the side!” Jiwoo whines, tightening her hold on Jungeun which only makes the other girl yelp again.

 

“Jiwoo, it’s fine—I’m over it— _Jiwoo_ —” Jungeun pulls Jiwoo off of her, holding her away by her shoulders and looking her in the eyes, “I came here to be with _you_.”

 

“Don’t do that,” Jiwoo scrunches up her nose, “Don’t use me as another excuse to get further away from Jinsol.”

 

“W—What?” Jungeun stammers, “I’m not doing that—”

 

“That’s _exactly_ what you’re doing—”

 

“No it’s not—”

 

“ _Jungeun_ ,” Jiwoo’s stern tone makes Jungeun shut up right away.

 

Jiwoo huffs.

 

“Don’t let fear get in the way of you being happy, Jungeun.”

 

Maybe it’s because it’s so late and there are no lights on in the room, but Jungeun’s never seen Jiwoo so serious before.

 

“That’s…” Jungeun tries to defend herself, but Jiwoo quirks an eyebrow.

 

Giving up, she nods weakly, “I won’t.”

 

“Good,” Jiwoo smiles, “now, tell me: was she a good kisser?”

 

“ _Ugh_ , Jiwoo!”

 

“What? Are you not going to answer me?”

 

“No…”

 

…

 

Jiwoo quirks an eyebrow.

 

Jungeun buries her burning face into her hands.

 

“She’s an _amazing_ kisser.”

 

**day five.**

 

Jinsol enters the bathroom just as Jungeun finishes brushing her teeth.

 

“Good morning,” Jungeun says to the sleepy blonde.

 

Jinsol drags her feet as she gets closer to Jungeun. She practically drapes her body over Jungeun from behind, burying her face into Jungeun’s shoulder.

 

Jungeun giggles, “Brush your teeth.”

 

Jinsol groans, and Jungeun feels the vibration travel through her own body. Jungeun takes Jinsol’s blue toothbrush, wets it, and squeezes toothpaste onto it.

 

“Here,” she says, holding it over her shoulder. Jinsol detaches herself from Jungeun and takes the toothbrush, sticking it into her cheek as she starts to brush. She brushes with one hand and wipes away the sleepiness from her eyes with the other.

 

Jungeun stays in the bathroom as Jinsol continues to brush her teeth, watching the older girl struggle to stay awake even after splashing her face with cold water (and getting it all over the counter).

 

“Why are you up so early?” Jungeun asks.

 

Due to the mouthwash being swished around in Jinsol’s mouth, a muffled response is given, and Jungeun understands none of it.

 

“What’d you say?”

 

Jinsol holds up a finger to signal for Jungeun to wait, and then she spits the mouthwash out.

 

She turns to Jungeun, leaning her hip on the counter, “I wanted to spend time with you.”

 

Jungeun almost melts into a puddle right then and there.

 

She blushes, “I was just going to go back to my room and scroll through my phone.”

 

“You can scroll through your phone with one hand and scratch my head with the other,” Jinsol says, taking Jungeun’s hand in hers. When Jungeun sees that Jinsol’s leading them back to her shared room with Jiwoo, she hesitates.

 

“Wait, you want to go back into _my_ bed?”

 

“I mean we’re just going to cuddle…” Jinsol murmurs, “unless you don’t want Jiwoo to see us like that?”

 

“Oh,” Jungeun blinks, “actually, uhm… Jiwoo saw us kissing yesterday.”

 

“Oh, _shit_ ,” Jinsol whispers, “She did? What’d you tell her?”

 

“I told her that… we like each other,” Jungeun says, feeling uneasy that they’re having this conversation in the _middle of the hallway,_ “and she thinks we’re dating.”

 

“We’re dating?” Jinsol questions.

 

Jungeun freezes up, “Aren’t we?”

 

“Y—Yes?” Jinsol widens her eyes, “I—”

 

“I didn’t know what else to tell her,” Jungeun mumbles.

 

“That’s okay,“ Jinsol bites her lip, “what else did you two talk about?”

 

“Well, I told her about the long-distance being the reason we’re being cautious, but she kind of shut me down,” Jungeun admits, “she told me not to let fear get in the way of my happiness.”

 

“And… your happiness… is _me…_?” Jinsol connects the dots shyly.

 

Jungeun’s entire face turns red.

 

She drags Jinsol towards the bedroom, “Something like that,” she mutters under her breath.

 

Jinsol muffles a laugh because they’re in the room now, and they can hear Jiwoo’s light snores coming from the top-bunk.

 

Jungeun slides under the blanket and Jinsol follows. The blonde girl immediately buries her face into Jungeun’s shoulder, humming contently as Jungeun’s fingers thread through her hair and start to massage her scalp.

 

Jungeun’s other hand is used to scroll through Instagram, but she’s more focused on the steady breaths hitting her collarbone and the tight embrace around her waist. The bunk bed doesn’t offer much space for one person, let alone _two_ , so the girls are very much pressed together.

 

Jinsol’s legs intertwine with Jungeun’s and it’s practically like they’re one entity with how close they are. The warmth isn’t overbearing but it’s enough to get Jungeun’s head to spin (in the good way).

  


Some time during Jungeun’s scrolling, she thinks that Jinsol’s fallen asleep. She stops moving the hand that’s massaging her, and then smiles when she hears a groggy whine, followed by a squeeze on her waist.

 

After quickly muttering an apology, Jungeun continues massaging Jinsol’s scalp.

 

She locks her phone and wraps her now-free arm around Jinsol’s body.

 

She smiles as Jinsol curls further into her hold, smiles when Jinsol presses the lightest of kisses on her collarbone, and smiles when Jinsol eventually does fall asleep.

 

Jungeun continues to rub at Jinsol’s scalp soothingly, trying to match her breathing with Jinsol’s.

 

When Jiwoo climbs down the bunk ladder and spots Jungeun and Jinsol cuddling, she gives a sleepy smile and a crooked thumbs-up before heading to the bathroom.

 

Something about holding Jinsol in her arms (and Jinsol holding Jungeun in _hers_ ), makes Jungeun feel anchored. She feels comfortable and safe, and soon enough, her eyelids start to droop.

 

-

 

“Jungeun, wake up,” Jinsol whispers gently, shaking Jungeun’s shoulders, “we fell asleep.”

 

Jungeun groans, “ _No_.”

 

Jinsol laughs, but continues being persistent, “Jiwoo came in to tell us that they’re having breakfast. Let’s go before Vivi eats everything.”

 

Jungeun’s shirt had risen some time during their slumber, and she feels Jinsol’s fingers dancing over her bare waist. She squirms, almost letting out a yelp, but then she feels Jinsol fixing her shirt and lowering it.

 

Her eyes open at this, and she’s greeted with Jinsol’s adoring gaze.

 

“Hi, baby,”

 

“B—Baby?” Jungeun stammers.

 

“Not baby?” Jinsol replies, raising her eyebrows.

 

“I—“ Jungeun gulps, unable to get a response out.  

 

Jinsol just smiles at Jungeun’s blushing face, “Let’s go eat.”

 

Jungeun nods wordlessly.

 

-

 

“Morning,” Haseul greets the two, quirking an eyebrow, “sleep well?”

 

“Mhm,” Jungeun hums, sitting down next to Jiwoo and narrowing her eyes at the teasing grin on her lips.

 

“Yesterday was pretty fun,” Sooyoung says as a conversation starter, handing the plate of bacon over to Jinsol, who takes it with a ‘thank you’.

 

“Yeah,” Vivi agrees, “it was pretty fun watching Mina _desperately_ try to get with Jinsol.”

 

“She was _not_ desperate,” Jinsol hushes Vivi, “and it wasn’t like that.”

 

“It _was_ like that,” Vivi chortles, “did you not see her blush every time you looked at her?”

 

“No,” Jinsol grunts.

 

“She _was_ cute though,” Haseul interjects, her eyes flickering over to Jungeun and seeming to notice how uncomfortable the girl is.

 

Jinsol clears her throat, “Sure, but I didn’t want to get with her. Jungeun, do you want bacon?”

 

“Yes, please,” Jungeun mutters, lifting her plate for Jinsol to slide the bacon onto.

 

“Since when did _you_ start rejecting pretty girls?” Vivi questions.

 

“Since—“

 

“Since we started dating,” Jungeun cuts in.

 

All eyes turn to her.

 

And then all eyes turn to Jinsol.

 

And then back to Jungeun.

 

Haseul’s lips curve upwards slightly.

 

Jiwoo stifles a giggle.

 

…

 

Vivi suddenly _whips_ her head towards Jinsol, pointing a finger accusingly at her, “Alright, how much did you bribe her?”

 

Jinsol gasps and starts to smack Vivi, “I didn’t bribe her!”

 

“There’s no— _stop hitting me!_ —there’s no _way_ Jungeun’s _willingly_ dating you!— _Ow!_ —” Vivi swats away Jinsol’s attacks.

 

The rest of the girls watch the interaction with amused eyes, and Jungeun feels someone staring at her.

 

She turns to see Sooyoung raising her eyebrows and giving her a thumbs-up.

 

_What’s up with everybody and the thumbs-ups today?_

 

-

 

“Alright, fellas, what are we doing today?” Vivi asks, hopping onto the counter as she watches the girls clean up.

 

Haseul tosses a small towel at Vivi’s face, “You’re drying the dishes.”

 

“Whatever,” Vivi pulls the cloth off of her, rolling her eyes, “but, _seriously_ , what are we doing?”

 

“I’m sore from hiking and volleyball,” Sooyoung groans, stretching her arms as she says this.

 

“You’re kidding,” Vivi quirks an eyebrow.

 

“No, I’m not,” Sooyoung narrows her eyes at Vivi, “it was very hard.”

 

“We can always just have another relaxing, stay-inside day!” Jiwoo suggests enthusiastically.

 

“I’m down,” Haseul says, handing a plate towards Vivi. Vivi takes it and starts to dry it off.

 

“I’ll go get the board games ready,” Jinsol announces.

 

Jinsol lifts her eyebrows up as she makes eye-contact with Jungeun, and then she turns on her heel and walks up the stairs. Seeing as Jungeun’s done wiping down the table, she follows Jinsol.

 

She gets to the top of the stairs just as she sees Jinsol turning into her room.

 

When Jungeun enters the threshold of the room, she’s being pulled in close by her waist as the door is closed behind her. Jinsol smiles, body pressing against Jungeun as Jungeun’s back is pressed against the door.

 

“Hi,” Jinsol greets quietly.

 

“Hi,” Jungeun mumbles back, eyes wide.

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

“Do you really have to ask?” Jungeun whines slightly, cheeks red.

 

“I just wanted to make sure,” Jinsol giggles.

 

Jungeun lets out a content hum as Jinsol’s lips connect with her own, both of their eyes fluttering close with the kiss.

 

It’s a gentle kiss, almost like Jinsol’s holding back on pressing her lips against Jungeun’s, but it still manages to make Jungeun’s stomach twist every which way.

 

Jinsol pulls away moments later with a small smile, “I’ve been wanting to do that all morning.”

 

Jungeun blinks, hyper aware of the hand Jinsol has on her waist and the thumb pressing against the skin exposed by her hiked-up tank-top.

 

She leans in again, because the way their breaths are mingling is driving her bonkers, but is confused when Jinsol leans away.

 

“What is it?” Jungeun asks.

 

Jinsol hesitates, biting on her lower lip.

 

“Jinsol?” Jungeun calls out worriedly.

 

“Are we… Are we actually dating?” Jinsol questions quietly. Jungeun’s eyes widen.

 

“Oh,” she says, “I mean—”

 

“I understand if you just said it to get the girls to back off about Mina, but I just wanted to know if…” Jinsol trails off, shrugging and letting go of Jungeun’s hip, “if I get to call you mine—even if it _is_ only for two more days.”

 

“It’s three days including this one,” Jungeun points out, trying to lighten the mood.

 

Jinsol smiles, but it’s not one of her brighter-than-the-sun smiles. It’s a nervous one, and it makes Jungeun’s stomach drop.

 

She reaches up to cup Jinsol’s cheek, running a soothing thumb over the soft skin as she frowns, “We’re dating.”

 

Jinsol’s eyes flicker nervously between Jungeun’s, though they widen slightly at the statement, “Are you sure?”

 

Jungeun nods, “Yeah.”

 

“Okay,” Jinsol grins, nudging her nose against Jungeun’s before placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

 

Jungeun keeps her eyes closed as Jinsol holds her close, their foreheads touching.

 

When they hear footsteps coming up the stairs, they pull away with shy grins on her lips.

 

“Okay, what games should we bring down?” Jinsol asks.

 

“Anything but Monopoly.”

 

“Good thing Monopoly’s already downstairs.”

 

—

 

Jungeun doesn’t hate playing Monopoly as much when she gets to hold Jinsol’s hand in her own, her head on the older girl’s shoulder as she goes completely _bankrupt_ in the game.

 

“How can you seriously suck this bad, Jungeun?” Vivi asks with a chortle.

 

Sooyoung chuckles, “Are we allowed to donate money to her?”

 

“Nope,” Jiwoo giggles, “Jungie, I think you should just stay in jail. You’re in debt.”

 

“I give up,” Jungeun rolls her eyes. She cuddles more into Jinsol’s side, “this game’s boring.”

 

“It’s boring because you’re bad,” Jinsol whispers.

 

Jungeun whines and smacks her arm. Jinsol cooes and presses a kiss to her forehead, which makes Jungeun’s entire face go red.

 

Jiwoo grins at the scene, eyes sparkling when they meet Jungeun’s.

 

“ _Gross_ ,” Vivi pretends to gag, but she does end up giving the new couple a small smile.

 

-

 

Once they finish multiple board games and different card games, lunch is prepared and a movie is played on the television screen.

 

Jinsol and Jungeun stick close the entire time.

 

When their hands aren’t on each other, their eyes are.

 

After they eat lunch, they all settle in front of the TV.

 

Jinsol has her right arm wrapped around the back of Jungeun’s waist, the two of them cuddling. Sooyoung and Haseul, as usual, are cuddling.

 

Vivi and Jiwoo have opposite reactions to the couples.

 

“How cute!” That’s Jiwoo.

 

“You’re all so disgusting.” That’s Vivi.

 

Jungeun tries not to pay them any mind, though, because Jinsol’s body is warm and feeling her so close makes it easier for Jungeun to believe that this isn’t just a dream. She plays with the fingers on Jinsol’s left hand, sizing them up against her own before interlacing them with her own.

 

Jungeun feels Jinsol’s eyes on her, but Jungeun keeps her eyes on their connected hands.

 

It’s a small giggle and a nose nuzzled against her temple that gets Jungeun’s attention stolen.

 

“You’re so cute,” Jinsol whispers into Jungeun’s ear. The voice causes shivers to run down Jungeun’s spine, making her squirm.

 

“Don’t do that,” she hisses back.

 

Jinsol’s smile turns into a playful grin. She presses a quick kiss against Jungeun’s lobe, which makes the younger girl squeal.

 

Eyes turn towards them, raised eyebrows as well.

 

“Jungeun, be _quiet_ ,” Jinsol chides exaggeratingly.

 

“I—” Jungeun sighs, not even bothering to try to explain herself. She rolls her eyes and snuggles closer to Jinsol, “ _Shut up…_ ”

 

—

 

“Why are they going that way?! Oh my God, they’re so dumb! They’re so dumb!” Jiwoo squeals as the characters on screen make their way through a dark cave full of monsters.

 

Jungeun’s not paying much attention though. She’s turned sideways, her bottom on the right side of Jinsol’s thighs and her feet on the other. Her head’s rested against Jinsol’s shoulders as the girl holds her close with both arms.

 

“They’re gonna die,” Vivi mumbles, handing Jiwoo the bowl of popcorn, “they’re definitely going to die.”

 

Even with all the noise going on, Jungeun’s eyes feel heavy and she feels herself getting lulled to sleep by the warmth Jinsol’s body is giving off and the little subtle kisses Jinsol keeps pressing against her head.

 

Jinsol seems to notice the weight against her becoming heavier, as she lowers her head to come face-to-face with Jungeun’s drooping eyes.

 

“You sleepy, baby?” she whispers gently so only Jungeun can hear her.

 

In Jungeun’s sleepy state, she doesn’t bother getting embarrassed at the nickname. She nods slowly, and feels Jinsol shift. One of the two arms wrapped around her body goes to the back of Jungeun’s knees.

 

Jinsol stands from the couch, lifting Jungeun bridal-style.

 

“Jungeun’s sleepy,” Jinsol says to the other girls, “I’m gonna go bring her upstairs.”

 

“Don’t drop your girlfriend,” Vivi warns.

 

“I won’t,” Jinsol laughs. Jungeun feels the vibration of her chuckles as she leans her head further into Jinsol’s shoulder.

 

Jinsol carries her carefully up the stairs, barely breaking a sweat as she places Jungeun down onto the lower bunk bed. Jinsol brings the blanket up to cover Jungeun’s small body, but Jungeun grabs her wrist.

 

“Stay,” she mumbles, eyes-closed.

 

Jinsol doesn’t say anything for a moment. Jungeun’s about to open her eyes, wondering why Jinsol’s not doing anything, but then Jinsol makes her way next to Jungeun. She pulls the younger girl close.

 

“Go to sleep, Jungeun,” Jinsol whispers.

 

“Mhm…” Jungeun hums, pressing closer to Jinsol. Their legs intertwine, their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

 

Jinsol presses a kiss to the crown of Jungeun’s head. Jungeun can feel the outline of Jinsol’s lips turned upwards into a smile.

 

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these two girls really are head over heels for each other.

 

**day six.**

 

Jungeun wakes up to a face _full_ of blonde hair. Jinsol’s head is resting against her chest, her body sprawled across Jungeun’s.

 

Immediately, Jungeun finds her heartbeat starting to pick up. She smiles to herself, though, because Jinsol’s so close to her and Jungeun just finds everything about her very endearing.

 

Even though Jungeun knows she won’t be able to fall back asleep, she stays in bed.

 

She’s content enough to play with Jinsol’s hair and run her fingers up and down Jinsol’s back.

 

Jinsol mumbles something in her sleep, and it makes Jungeun giggle.

 

She leans down to press a kiss against Jinsol’s nose, pulling back just to see Jinsol scrunch up said nose.

 

_Oh my God… she’s so fucking cute._

 

When Jinsol finally wakes up almost two hours later, her body jolts slightly, eyes opening before closing tightly. She groans and buries her face into Jungeun’s neck.

 

Jungeun brings her right hand up to the back of Jinsol’s head, rubbing at her scalp.

 

“Morning,” she whispers.

 

Another groan comes from Jinsol.

 

They stay in this position for a little while longer before Jinsol suddenly sits up. She’s straddling Jungeun, eyes still half-closed with sleepiness as she runs her hand through her hair.

 

Jungeun sits up, pressing one hand on Jinsol’s lower back as the other one is pressed on the bed to keep her sitting up.

 

“You can go back to sleep,” Jungeun says.

 

Jinsol shakes her head, two fists rubbing at her eyes, “No.”

 

“No?” Jungeun repeats, the hand on Jinsol’s back moving upwards.

 

“I have a plan for today,” Jinsol murmurs. She lowers her hands, loosely interlocking them around the back of Jungeun’s neck, “we should go get ready.”

 

“Just us?”

 

“Mhm,” Jinsol nods, “a date.”

 

“We have to pack,” Jungeun points out, getting a little sad at the thought of leaving Jinsol tomorrow morning.

 

“Vivi and Jiwoo agreed to pack our things for us,” Jinsol replies, “I asked them about it yesterday.”

 

“You planned everything yesterday?”

 

“Yes,” Jinsol turns to get off of Jungeun, “come on.”

 

She takes hold of Jungeun’s hand, dragging her to the bathroom.

 

—

 

As Jungeun smears cream cheese across the bagel in front of her, Jinsol comes up behind her and wraps her arms around Jungeun’s waist. She presses multiple kisses against Jungeun’s cheek, finding happiness in the way Jungeun squeals and giggles. The light atmosphere is accompanied by the bright sun shining through the windows and into the large kitchen area.

 

“Where are we going today?” Jungeun asks, biting into the bagel and turning around to face Jinsol, leaning back against the counter as she does so.

 

Jungeun offers the bagel to Jinsol, and the blonde takes a bite before replying.

 

“There’s a boardwalk near the beach,” she answers, “a little amusement park as well.”

 

“I see,” Jungeun hums, bringing her thumb up to wipe the cream cheese on the side of Jinsol’s mouth. She holds the thumb up and Jinsol licks it off with a little grin.

 

“We can spend the day there,” she says, “I really do want to get to know you before we have to leave.”

 

Jungeun’s heart sinks at the mention of leaving (as it always does). She takes another bite into her bagel, nodding knowingly.

 

Jinsol kisses Jungeun’s forehead.

 

“Let’s just spend the day together and not think about that,” Jinsol says, trying to brighten the mood, “how does that sound?”

 

Jungeun smiles, nodding, “Sounds good.”

 

“Good,” Jinsol smiles back.

 

-

 

“Did you get sunscreen, babe?” Jinsol calls towards Jungeun who’s coming out of the cabin.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun hums. She watches as Jinsol closes the trunk and they both enter the car.

 

“Okay, off we go,” Jinsol says excitedly, “seatbelts on!”

 

-

 

The one hour car trip is full of conversation about whatever comes to their minds.

 

Jinsol talks about being obsessed with having pet hamsters in middle school and Jungeun talks about how much she used to love the snow when she was little.

 

Their conversation’s are light for the most part, but when Jinsol asks how high school had treated Jungeun, Jungeun feels herself become solemn.

 

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Jinsol says quickly, noticing how quiet her girlfriend had gotten. She lifts the hand interlocked with hers to her mouth, pressing a kiss against the back of it.

 

“It’s okay, I’ll answer it,” Jungeun assures her, “I just don’t know where to start.”

 

“That bad?” Jinsol frowns.

 

“No,” Jungeun mumbles, “it just didn’t live up to expectations, I guess.”

 

“What were your expectations?”

 

“Having fun with friends between studying,” Jungeun says. She shrugs, “Jiwoo was honestly the only _real_ friend I had throughout high school, and even then we didn’t hang out as much as we’d used to.”

 

“Were you lonely?” Jinsol asks quietly.

 

“Yeah, that’s the word for it,” Jungeun hums, “the loneliness kicked in with each passing year.”

 

Jinsol presses another kiss to Jungeun’s hand, “I hope college is better for you.”

 

“Me, too,” Jungeun looks over to Jinsol, whose eyes are focused on the road.

 

“No one deserves to feel lonely,” Jinsol says, nearly in a whisper, “especially not you.”

 

She feels her chest expanding with something she could only describe in ‘adoration’.

 

(She could also describe it as ‘love’, but that’s too scary.)

 

—

 

Once Jinsol shifts the gear into park and takes her seatbelt off, Jungeun moves forward. She unclips her own seatbelt with one hand as the other turns Jinsol’s face towards her. Jinsol had been in the motion of opening the car door, so she’s surprised when Jungeun kisses her. She lets out a little gasp, only to be silence by Jungeun’s lips.

 

She closes the car door to kiss Jungeun back gently, eyebrows furrowing to focus on the soft lips sliding against her own. Jungeun returns the motions wholeheartedly, stomach flipping when she feels Jinsol’s fingers lightly gripping the side of her neck.

 

When it gets a little _too_ heated for a car-kiss, Jinsol pulls away. They’re both breathing hard, eyes fluttering open in a daze to look at each other.

 

“What was that for?” Jinsol whispers.

 

“I…” Jungeun gulps, trying to steady her breathing, “I just really like you. Like… I _really_ like you.”

 

Jinsol smiles, pressing a quick kiss against Jungeun’s lips.

 

“I really like you too, Jungeun,” she replies.

 

Jungeun smiles, the nervousness in her stomach disappearing with the genuine adoration in Jinsol’s eyes.

 

“Let’s go shopping at the boardwalk, yeah?” Jinsol suggests.

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun replies.

 

They get out of the car, but not before Jinsol presses multiple more pecks on Jungeun’s lips.

 

(And cheeks...

 

And nose…

 

...

 

 _And_ forehead.)

 

—

 

They’re looking around a mini-jewelry store when Jinsol taps on Jungeun’s shoulder.

 

“How about this one?” she asks after Jungeun turns to look at her. She holds up a black cord necklace with some sort of red mineral attached to it.

 

“It’s pretty,” Jungeun says honestly, “are you going to buy it for yourself?”

 

“I’m not here to buy things for _myself_ ,” Jinsol laughs, walking to get behind Jungeun. She brushes Jungeun’s hair to one side and helps clip the necklace onto her.

 

“You don’t have to spend money on me, Jinsol,” Jungeun turns again to look at Jinsol with a frown, “I don’t—”

 

“Do you or do you not like the necklace?” Jinsol asks, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I do, but—”

 

“Okay,” Jinsol smiles, “I’m buying it _for myself_ , to give to you!”

 

“That’s the _same_ thing, Jinsol,” Jungeun glares at her.

 

Jinsol unclips the necklace and heads towards the register, “No it’s not,” she calls happily over her shoulder.

 

-

 

Jungeun walks around with a new necklace on her neck as Jinsol takes her store-to-store, always asking her if she’d like anything inside there.

 

-

 

They sit down at a table outside of the small food-shop they’d just gotten food from. Jinsol feeds her some of her fries and giggles when she accidentally smears ketchup across Jungeun’s cheek.

 

“Sorry,” she grins, wiping Jungeun’s cheek with a napkin.

 

Jungeun scowls, but fails to keep up the act when Jinsol pouts exaggeratingly.

 

She laughs, tossing an onion ring at the girl’s face.

 

-

 

Jinsol’s fingers are interlaced tightly between Jungeun’s as they walk through the small amusement park by the pier. They play the games set up at booths and fail every time.

 

“Hey, dude, how much do I have to pay to just get one of those plushies?” Jinsol asks, wiggling her eyebrows to the poor teenager working at the ring toss.

 

“You have to win at the game—”

 

“Forget about the game, how much money do you want?”

 

“ _Jinsol_!” Jungeun gasps, grabbing her girlfriend’s arm and tugging her away, “Sorry for that!”

 

Jinsol laughs loudly, “It was a genuine question!”

 

“The kid looked like he was about to faint!”

 

—

 

After riding nearly all of the rides and playing (/trying to bribe) all of the games, Jungeun and Jinsol settle down in a cart on the large ferris wheel.

 

“I love ferris wheels,” Jinsol says as they start to move, getting higher and higher with each passing second, “and this view is so pretty.”

 

Jungeun hums, looking out onto the beach. The sun has begun to set, but it’s still bright enough to give the world a dark orange tint.

 

“Thanks for taking me here, Jinsol,” Jungeun says as she turns her gaze towards the girl sat across from her, “I had a lot of fun.”

 

“I’m glad you had a lot of fun,” Jinsol smiles, returning the eye-contact, “of course, I took you out for selfish reasons, too.”

 

“Selfish reasons?”

 

“I wanted you all to myself today,” Jinsol admits sheepishly.

 

Jungeun wants to kiss the shy smile off of her lips. Spending the day with Jinsol had kept her distracted about the inevitable situation they’re going to face tomorrow, bright and early.

 

The realization kicks Jungeun right in the gut.

 

Upon noticing the way Jungeun’s eyes have become downcast and her lips are frowning, Jinsol reaches across the cart to take Jungeun’s hands in hers, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

Jungeun lets out a shaky breath.

 

“I just don’t want to leave you.”

 

“Come here,” Jinsol says gently, tugging Jungeun onto her side of the cart.

 

The cart sways, but Jungeun barely minds it because she’s pulled into Jinsol’s warm embrace the following second.

 

“We can work something out,” Jinsol whispers, pressing a kiss to Jungeun’s head.

 

Jungeun looks up at her, “You’d want to do long-distance?”

 

“For you, I do,” Jinsol says truthfully, “but… you’re going to be meeting a lot of new people once you’re in college.”

 

“...”

 

“If we’re going to break up, I’d rather do it in person than have to do it over the phone in the future,” Jinsol mumbles.

 

Jungeun doesn’t know how to respond. She doesn’t like how doubting she is of her and Jinsol’s relationship, but she knows that her doubt is justified. They’d only just met this week, have only been dating for three days.

 

Who’s to say they won’t meet someone new and fall for that new person just as quick?

 

She doesn’t want either of their hearts to break.

 

…

 

“Let’s keep in contact,” Jinsol whispers, seeing as Jungeun won’t say anything, “we… we don’t have to be dating. We can be open to other people. If other people come along and we’re interested, then that’s that… but, I…”

 

She lets out a deep breath, “I don’t want this to be the end of us, either.”

 

Jungeun’s about to say something, about to say that maybe she and Jinsol _could_ work out a long-distance relationship, but Jinsol beats her to speaking.

 

“Look, Jungeun,” she nudges the younger girl, “we’re at the top.”

 

She’s right. Their cart’s reached the highest position on the ferris wheel, giving them an overview of the beach that stretches along the shore and of the boardwalk beneath them. It’s pretty. It’s very pretty.

 

But Jungeun can’t help but wonder how she’s able to feel so impossibly low at such a high height.

 

—

 

The car ride back to the cabin isn’t filled with conversation as it had been on the way to the boardwalk. Jungeun’s lost in her own thoughts.

 

(Jinsol is, too, but she’s more concerned about Jungeun than anything else.)

 

As Jinsol pulls into the parking lot, she notices that Jungeun’s hand is already on the car door, ready to leave as soon as Jinsol puts the car into park.

 

Jinsol parks the car but immediately reaches out to stop Jungeun from leaving.

 

“Don’t do that,” Jinsol whispers shakily, eyeing Jungeun’s leg that’s already halfway out of the car door. Jinsol blinks away tears, “Don’t pull away before we even have to leave each other.”

 

Jungeun closes the door, folding her hands in her lap.

 

Jinsol turns back towards the wheel and presses her forehead against it, “I’m hurting, too, you know?”

 

The whisper makes Jungeun look over to her.

 

“I’m sad that we have to leave each other. You’re the first girl since forever that I actually _like_ ,” Jinsol continues with a trembling voice. She grips the steering wheel tightly, knuckles turning white, “I don’t… I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t want to hold you back from experiencing new things in college.”

 

“With the way you’re saying that, it makes me feel like you don’t trust me enough to handle a long-distance relationship,” Jungeun admits.

 

Jinsol sits up, eyes widening, “That’s not what I mean by it, Jungeun.”

 

“I know, but that’s just what it sounds like,” Jungeun shrugs.

 

Jinsol’s eyebrows furrow, “I do trust you, but this has nothing to do with trust, Jungeun. People can grow apart, and feelings aren’t something we can _control_. You might meet someone new, might fall in love with them, but if we’re together, that’d just make you feel guilty regardless whether or not you choose to do anything about it…”

 

“I get what you’re saying,” Jungeun says quietly.

 

“I don’t want you to hate me for making it seem like I’m not trying to keep us together,” Jinsol whispers, voice cracking as tears escape her eyes.

 

“I don’t hate you,” Jungeun reaches out to wipe the tears away, “Jinsol, I could never hate you…”

 

Jinsol sniffles, her bottom lip quivering. Jungeun runs her thumb along Jinsol’s bottom lip, trying to steady it. Jinsol presses a kiss to the pad of Jungeun’s thumb, leaning her cheek into the girl’s palm.

 

“I’d stay with you forever if I could,” Jinsol whispers.

 

Jungeun kisses her, and ends up on Jinsol’s lap in the next few moments.

 

Jinsol kisses her back passionately, even with the tears streaming down her face.

 

**day seven.**

 

At six in the morning, everyone’s up and about. Jungeun watches with a heavy heart as everyone struggles to get their suitcases and bags down the stairs. She helps Haseul with hers (like she had when they’d first arrived).

 

“Thanks, Jungeun,” Haseul huffs, reaching out to ruffle Jungeun’s hair, “I’m gonna go start my car up. Keep in touch, yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Jungeun says quietly, waving goodbye as Haseul walks out the open front door.

 

Sooyoung stumbles by a few minutes later, pulling Jungeun into a side-hug and shaking her around, “Have fun at college, kid!”

 

“Thanks,” Jungeun laughs, pushing Sooyoung away playfully, “drive safe.”

 

“Will do,” Sooyoung grins, “bye!”

 

“Bye,” Jungeun waves.

 

Jungeun lets out a heavy sigh as she walks back up the stairs, watching Jiwoo struggling with _both_ of their suitcases and bags.

 

“Jiwoo, what are you doing—” Jungeun hurries forward, taking her own bag and suitcase from Jiwoo, “you’re going to hurt yourself.”

 

“Ah, jeez, Jungie!” Jiwoo complains, “I was doing fine!”

 

The duo make their way down the stairs carefully.

 

“Where are the other two?” Jungeun asks, looking back up at the stairs as she and Jiwoo make their way to the door.

 

“Last I heard, Vivi was calling Jinsol a mean name,” Jiwoo giggles.

 

They make their way down to the car. Jungeun pauses in her steps.

 

“Wait,” she calls out, setting her bag down, “I haven’t said goodbye to them yet.”

 

Jiwoo waves her off, “Go. I’ll put the stuff in the car.”

 

“Thanks,” Jungeun says quickly before rushing back towards the cabin.

 

She sees Vivi coming down the front steps.

 

“Oh, hey, Jinsol was looking for you,” she says, “tell her I’m in the car already.”

 

“Okay,” Jungeun gulps, “thanks, Vivi.”

 

“No problem,” Vivi smiles at her, “go get your girl.”

 

With a nod, Jungeun walks up the front stairs and enters the cabin, looking around for the blonde. She hurries up the stairs two-steps at a time only to nearly run into Jinsol, who was exiting the room she and Jiwoo had shared.

 

“I thought you’d left already,” Jinsol says sadly just before Jungeun’s body practically collides with her own, arms wrapping around each other tightly.

 

“I’m going to miss you,” Jungeun whispers, eyes closed as Jinsol holds her close.

 

“I’m going to miss you, too,” Jinsol whispers, pressing a kiss against Jungeun’s shoulder, “so much.”

 

When they think they’ve hugged for long enough (it’ll never be long enough), Jinsol pulls away.

 

“I want you to have something,” she says before turning and reaching into the bag at her feet.

 

She pulls out the hoodie that she’d given Jungeun to wear on the nights they’d gone out onto the pond’s shore.

 

“To remember me by,” Jinsol smiles.

 

“I already have the necklace you gave to me,” Jungeun says, surprised.

 

“ _Two_ things to remember me by, then,” Jinsol laughs.

 

Jungeun takes the sweater, staring down at it.

 

“We should probably leave, though,” Jinsol says with a sadder chuckle, “gotta be out of here by eight-thirty.”

 

“Wait—”

 

Jungeun reaches behind her neck to unclasp the necklace Jinsol had gotten for her.

 

“You keep this,” she says, handing the necklace over, “you need something to remember me by, too.”

 

Jinsol gives her a small smile, “I don’t think it’s possible I’d ever forget you.”

 

“Jinsol,” Jungeun lets out in a slight whine.

 

Jinsol laughs, turning and humming, “Put it on for me?”

 

Jungeun does as she’s told, pressing against Jinsol’s shoulder once she’s done and making the older girl face her again.

 

“I love it,” Jinsol whispers, looking right into Jungeun’s eyes.

 

It’s a confession, Jungeun knows this—it’s a confession of love without being so direct about it.

 

“Me, too,” Jungeun replies, leaning up to capture Jinsol’s lips.

 

—

 

Jungeun’s still tearing up as she and Jiwoo reach the highway.

 

She’s glad she asked Jiwoo to drive instead of her. She has Jinsol’s sweater on despite how hot it is in the car and outside. It still smells like Jinsol, and Jungeun’s not sure if it’s comforting her or making her even sadder.

 

-

 

When Jungeun’s phone buzzes nearly two hours later, she looks down at it.

 

**[Jinsol]: hi ♡ :]**

 

She smiles, letting out a small chuckle. She wipes at her eyes.

 

“Who is it?” Jiwoo asks, even though she knows the answer.

 

“It’s Jinsol,” Jungeun replies, typing back a reply.

 

**[Jungeun]: hi (: ♡**

 

—

 

On Jungeun’s first move-in day at her new college, she rejects her roommate’s offer to go walk around campus because she’s itching to call Jinsol.

 

Once she’s alone in her dorm room, she video calls the girl and Jinsol picks up within seconds.

 

“Hey!” Jinsol greets excitedly. She’s sat in front of a desk with her hair done up in a ponytail and round spectacles on, “Is that your room? Oh! Let me see! Let me see!”

 

Jungeun giggles as she flips the camera and gives Jinsol a mini-tour of her small dorm room.

 

-

 

Conversations about the people who hit on Jungeun at college parties could be filled with jealousy and sadness, but they’re not. In fact, the two girls laugh it off.

 

“What? She wasn’t pretty?” Jinsol asks after Jungeun’s done telling her about some upperclassman who had invited her back to her place.

 

“No, it wasn’t that,” Jungeun shrugs, mumbling under her breath.

 

“Then what was it?

 

“Uhm…” Jungeun stammers, “Well…”

 

Jinsol’s eyebrows raise, her head tilting. She looks at her phone screen, “What is it, Jungeun?”

 

Jungeun looks down at her lap, “She wasn’t you.”

 

…

 

…

 

“You’re so incredibly adorable…” Jinsol’s voice comes out through Jungeun’s earbuds, followed by giggling.

 

Jungeun looks up with pink cheeks and she’s greeted by Jinsol’s brighter-than-the-sun smile.

 

“Stop… Don’t laugh at me!” Jungeun whines.

 

“You’re just too _cute_!”

  
  
  


—

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They keep in contact for the next couple of years.

 

(Spoiler warning: new people never interested them. They’ve only ever wanted each other.)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


**[Jinsol]: jiwoo do not tell jungeun what i’m about to tell you**

**[Jiwoo]: WHAT DID YOU DO**

**[Jiwoo]: DID U BREAK HER HEART???**

**[Jiwoo]: I WILL /FIND/ U**

**[Jinsol]: JEEZ RELAX**

**[Jinsol]: IT’S NOTHING BAD**

**[Jiwoo]: oh.. hehe ^^ what’s up?**

**[Jinsol]: …**

**[Jiwoo]: what! is! up! ?**

**[Jinsol]: i’m transferring colleges for my graduate degree**

**[Jiwoo]: oh! :o congrats! where are you going?**

**[Jinsol]: i got into jungeun’s school**

**[Jiwoo]: oHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDKSLDJFLSKDJFMSLDKF**

  
  
  
  


—

 

 

 

 

Jungeun sits in the library the day before midterms, as many other students are doing. She has her earbuds in as she listens to music and flips through her notes, completely in her own world. She'd texted Jinsol earlier about having to study and being in the library, so she isn't too concerned about having her phone on do-not-disturb.

 

She doesn’t think much of it when she sees someone sit down next to her, opting to just continue focusing on her own studying.

 

That is, until a piece of paper is slipped towards her.

 

Jungeun blinks at it.

 

**hi**

 

When she looks up at the person who wrote it, her heart stops…

 

And then starts beating rapidly.

 

She tugs her earbuds out of her ears as her mouth opens in shock, unable to form words.

 

“Hi,” the person whispers with a grin.

 

Jungeun inhales sharply.

 

…

 

Then, she scoffs, a smile growing on her lips.

 

“ _Jinsol…_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> please do leave comments/kudos! i love hearing your thoughts :D
> 
> i started this on 190117 and finished on 190317 :3
> 
> twt: @sxft_aus  
> cc: @sxft_aus


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